From the Ashes
by HeartBeatFailure-x
Summary: Hope pulls you through the failures, through the traumas and the bad. Ame may have it's famed defenses, it might be known for it's immaculate weaponry, but above everything else, it's people are known for their hope and belief of a better future. "Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope." (Helen Keller). Konan-based. OOC naru-world.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So I've had this one going progressively for a while now as a biiiiiig doc on my laptop. I think it's going to turn into another long fic - so you're warned!**

**Also, everything belongs to Kishimoto and I own nothing! There will be some ****similarities ****between the events in the fic and basically the very beginnings of Akatsuki's formation. I've kind of manipulated it a little - so I hope that's not going to bother people.**

**AND YOU NEED TO KNOW, basically, In my head and for the this ENTIRE fic, the Anbu forces are pretty much like the **_**police force, each village having their own sort of regime.**_** In some villages they're respected and decent people, others, they're more violent and forceful. It depends on the village but I hope it'll make sense.**

**I have no idea what for or why I started this, but I tend to find that those are the ones that I enjoy writing the most .**

**I apologise for any OOC'ness, but we are in fiction-land and anything is possible.**

**It's not going to be Pein x Konan (as much as I really wanted it to) - it's my goal at some point! But it probably isn't going to happen. It's already gotten so long and I think this fic will probably end up setting up for a sequel at this rate. So yeah.**

**All the warnings you could have!**

**Many thanks.**

**Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

**(Prologue)**

**KONOHA.**

The siren was wailing, red lights illuminating every section of the corridor in the facility. The mayhem of security guards were yelling into their receivers, commands and confirmations alike. The facility was in chaos, half of its people were frozen in shock while the other half carried their fear. They used it to seize control of the situation or used it to run away.

In his office, Fugaku Uchiha's hands pushed against the table in fury, his eyes blankly staring at the same patch of the surface. Though his thoughts remained calm and rational - logical - his heartbeat was increasing by the minute. _Too many flaws..._

"Dear?" His wife placed her hand close to his on the table, their little fingers touching. It was a small but comforting gesture, her finger gradually crossing over his. Her tone had been patient, but he knew she was prompting him to speak. They were waiting on him to make a decision - what to do with Them. And they were running out of time.

He turned to his wife, valuing her opinion the most.

He'd been through the scenarios in his head, thought through every imaginable process he could imagine and talked to each and every one of his advisers and officers alike. He'd had enough time to secure a plan - he'd spent the past five years doing it - but he didn't think it'd come quite like this. Not so hurriedly, and certainly not on someone elses terms.

He would've liked to hear Itachi's view - his eldest son - but that would likely cause more damage than good. He was hard to get in touch with now - Anbu had made sure of that. He couldn't make the decision on his own - and it wasn't his decision to make. But Itachi wasn't there any more and he hadn't made the necessary precautions to inform the clan of what to do in the event of this nature.

Fugaku had to make a choice - one that he could only hope would be the one that Itachi would agree with. He was locked somewhere between condemnation and salvaging what he could of a sticky situation.

"What would he say?" He murmured, glancing at Mikoto, his wife. He didn't ask her what he'd _do, _because as a mother it was her job to protect her sons. She was a mother, first and always. She'd told him that when Itachi had been born, and he'd accepted it because he would always be the clan leader, first and foremost. Their duties were to others, not themselves, but Fugaku sometimes thought they were stronger because of it.

She averted her eyes to think. She was quiet for a minute, no doubt sifting through her personal thoughts of their family, their future and the decisions they'd made and the consequences that would no doubt come. And Sasuke.

As a father, Fugaku had always been the one to instil judgement and logic - right and wrong - into their sons' heads, but his wife had always been there to turn it into a positive thing. He was man of responsibility, a dutiful man by nature - but his family was his pride. He wouldn't let them down by making a bad decision. He knew his sons - and now, he already knew what to do.

"That we're fools for allowing them to get so close" She voiced, quietly as if to herself. "and then...they need to be moved. They can't stay here - maybe...to Jiraiya? They wouldn't think we'd be so careless. Right under their noses like that...but..." She trailed off, uncertain, but he was glad that she'd thought the same. They needed to be moved.

"He won't have the space" He murmured, doubt in his eyes. "Or the time..." A shadow blew through the window and Kakashi was the first to greet it. They clashed with sparks of silver but quickly drew apart.

"Sasuke" Mikoto was instantly horrified, pulling an odd face at which Fugaku almost smiled. He loved it when his wife pulled those faces - Sasuke would do the same.

"Why on earth are you-" The boy crossed the room with the swiftness of his father and placed a note face down on the table.

"From Itachi" He said quietly. "But he's here - so burn it when you're done. He said to"

"Itachi w-..." Mikoto faltered, confused. Going directly to Sasuke was something that Itachi avoided at all costs.

"His _intermediate _is dead. He's running out of options - it had to be done. Please?" He nudged the letter closer to his father and Fugaku flipped it, reading.

He began writing things down on separate bits of paper, his eyes flitting from one to the other as he called out names and handed out missions. The men and women in the room gradually decreased, and Sasuke began to feel a chill. Fugaku quickly gathered the remaining sheets up and passed the bundle across the table.

"Kakashi - take these. See Tsunade gets them" Kakashi gave a slow nod bundling the notes into his jacket pocket and watching as Fugaku began to set the rest of them aflame in the metal bin.

"The warnings..." Kakashi said doubtfully. The alarms were still blaring as the shouting continued outside their solid-locked walls. "I'd rather send another in my stead, and remain here" Mikoto shook her head in rejection of the idea.

"No" Fugaku agreed. "We're trusting you to deliver those - your responsibility after that will be Sasuke. That's what we're trusting you to do"

Mikoto slipped her hand fully into Fugaku's in silent thanks.

"Sasuke?" She encouraged. The teenager looked at her in confusion. "You're to go with Kakashi"

"No" Downright refusal. A stubborn trait hailed from Fugaku himself. "I'm staying with you"

"Sasuke" Fugaku said, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Go with Kakashi. Stay with Tsunade - we'll send word when this has blown over"

"But-" Sasuke started, defiantly. Kakashi placed a hand on his shoulder and he stopped, his face setting into the unbreakable mask they were famed for.

"Hey" His mothers voice was soft and encouraging, and for a moment Fugaku wondered if she'd challenge his decision. "We'll see you soon, ok? Itachi, too" Sasuke evidently trusted himself to do nothing but nod. She smiled at her youngest, brushing her hand over his cheek like he was a child again. And that's when Sasuke's stomach dropped.

"No" He said again, grasping his mothers thin fingers. "I can help. I can find Itachi and we can-"

"No - Sasuke, please" Mikoto pulled her son into a hug that he almost - out of habit - pulled away from. But her hold was firm - and then, suddenly, Fugaku was there too - a minus-one-family-hug. Sasuke's eyes pricked as his head began to spin.

_This feels too much like a goodbye, _he thought.

"Itachi's situation is _complicated, _you know that" Mikoto whispered to him. "It's easier if you stay away - like he said. He must trust you to do that - else he wouldn't have trusted you with the note" The room echoed with the sounds and the door was repeatedly bashed.

Their hug broke, Fugaku gathering up his weapons and passing a few small and sharp ones to Sasuke for his pockets. He'd grown up so much - hardly the boy Fugaku remembered him being. Practically a soldier, now.

"I'll see you soon. You understand?" Sasuke nodded blankly and Fugaku allowed himself to ruffle the boys hair - something he used to do when his boys were younger and hadn't discovered hair gel. "Good. Kakashi?" The man leapt up onto the window, ready. "Keep in sight of each other" He said, to each and both of them alike. "And stay safe" He finished, stepping closer to the window to say goodbye, Mikoto at his side.

"You too, Mikoto. Now" He allowed two seconds for her to be confused and then kissed her quivering lips.

"I'm staying" She whirled out of his grasp with that fierce look she saved for battle - snatching a sword from the side. "My place is here, with you. With the clan" She said, but he knew it wasn't. The banging became louder, more persistent. He doubled his efforts.

"Mother first and always" He recited as he snatched her back to his side, slipping the sword from her shaking hands and kissing her worried brow . "Go"

Kakashi was already crouching there keeping an eye out, his hand outstretched for Mikoto to take. Sasuke was poised, ready to leave with that stubborn look on his face, his eyes glued to the door that was quickly becoming fragile.

"Now, Kakashi" He said, seeing the shadow of a man race from the window with Mikoto's hand safely in his, Sasuke seconds behind.

"You're all excused" He said, turning to the remaining advisers and commanders in the office. Fugaku forced himself not to feel the loss - of everything falling and crumbling at his feet with Anbu once again standing triumphant. "You may return to your posts"

And then the room was clear - the window the only access in and out of the room - all but for a few remaining commanders. The look on their faces told him they weren't going to leave - and he was silently grateful for their company.

"Promise me you'll at least _try" _He froze, eyes wide in shock. He barely registered her thin fingers as they gripped his jacket, tight and sure.

"What are you doing?" He breathed, wondrous yet again at her ability to surprise him. Her tears were falling freely, but her posture was calm if not a little less graceful than normal - but that could be excused. "You have to leave - _now_"

"_Try" _She urged. "You're a father too. You're a _father _too" She tipped their heads together, her salty tears falling on his cheeks. "Please" She clung to his shoulders in defiance, but he gripped her arms and pushed her back towards the window. She dug her heels in with refusal and he was suddenly at as loss. He was probably causing her to bruise.

"I'll try, Mikoto" He put an arm out, motioning for the window. "But you need to-"

And then came the explosion, tearing through the door and ripping apart the walls, sending the four commanders - so ready in their poise for defence - flying into the back wall with enough force to break their spines.

Mikoto and Fugaku crumpled together, their limbs tangled but their arms somehow around each other.

Fugaku quickly pulled his wife up and she stood miraculously without injury. "The window. Don't argue" He moved her instinctively to his side and then behind him, moving her towards the window with one hand on his sword - the other on her arm.

But it was already too late.

000


	2. Chapter 2

**AMEGAKURE.**

Konan was soaked. The rain was torrential and it hadn't cleared for the whole morning - not one bit of lenience with it's force. Angry, she stomped her way up to her small apartment and tried to ignore the squelching in her wellies. Her socks were like sponges, her feet like ice cubes with her jeans matted horribly to her legs. She might as well have had a shower with her clothes on!

Her numb fingers ached as she unlocked the apartment door, not all that surprised to be greeted with familiar smelling smoke.

"Idiot" She muttered taking off her boots, peeling off her sodden socks and putting them onto the hallway radiator for now. "I thought I told you not to smoke in here?" She said, peering into the living room-dining area that was the main open space of the apartment. Her jeans were dripping, leaving water trails falling over her feet like extra veins.

Jiraiya was in his usual chair by the window, feet propped against the coffee table with his cigarette hanging from his lips. She shrugged off her coat, ignoring the sandpaper feeling it gave her as it slipped from her skin. She draped it over the back of the dining chair, facing it towards the electric heater to dry.

"Oi" She snapped, and Jiraiya turned his head to her as he took the cigarette in his fingers.

"Sorry, Pip" He pressed it into the book-covered coffee table - into the same burnt-circle that had been there since the first time he'd done it.

"Why are you here? Don't you have work?" She was thankful for the black top she was wearing. Wet as she was, at least it wasn't see through. And Jiraiya would've mocked her for it intensely.

"I'm hiding out" He told her. "Women are scary" He wasn't by any means an old man - a man certainly more than a boy - but not an _old _man. And he'd had enough experience with women to not be _scared _by them.

"Did you get one of them pregnant?" She chuckled, wandering into her bedroom and closing the door over. She grabbed her fluffy towel and began patting at her hair. When he didn't reply, she poked her head outside.

"Hey" She prompted.

"Do you remember Tsunade?" He asked.

"Blonde. All hubba-bubba" She swayed her hips and stuck out her chest like he hated her to - and then stopped. "You got _her _pregnant?"

"Not in the business of getting women pregnant, Slut"

"Y'ouch" She feigned hurt and closed the door back over, unzipping her jeans and finding her pajama shorts. She knew he was playing with her, their banter was a usual thing that mostly just annoyed their neighbours. "So...what's up?" She asked, slipping on her shorts and again, poking her head out of her bedroom door for a moment.

"...Tsunade sort of forced me into a ... difficult situation" Jiraiya didn't look at her, his eyes burning a hole next to the one on the coffee table - he was completely distracted. She could have walzed out in her bra and shorts and he wouldn't have batted an eyelid.

"_Powerful_ women" Konan concluded, closing the door back over. She took off her T-shirt and towelled herself dry. "_They _scare you" She waited as she put on her oversized band T-shirt, but Jiraiya made no comment to deny the fact, nor did he continue to say much else.

She grabbed her navy blue bed blanket, dragging it from underneath her mountain of books and teddies as she whirled it back into the living room like a cloak. "What did she do to you? Force you to go celibate with your only option being death?"

"She's a crazy bitch, is all" Jiraiya finally said. "A crazy, crazy bitch" He laced his fingers together, balancing his elbows on his knees in that thoughtful way that hinted of his past. He wasn't always so conservative.

"What can you do, ey?" She sat at an angle from him and wrapped herself up in her blanket, her feet tucked underneath her. "Can _I _do anything?" She asked after a moment.

"No - I think I'd rather keep you out of it" He gave a small laugh and she smiled. She was probably still in his bad books for stealing that bottle of sake for his birthday.

"Well, if you ever need to bitch or drink..." She raised her eyebrows and smiled wider.

"You're a good'un" He flopped his hand on her head and tried not to feel too much like a kid, though, it was easy enough to do around him. "I should get back - be careful, ok?" He said, standing up and popping practically every bone in his body.

"Yeah" She stood up too, following him politely to the door. "Oh, hey - you hear about that thing in Konoha? The city, er...damnit, it was in the paper" She squinted thoughtfully.

"Yeah..." He went quiet. "I'll pop my head in tomorrow... you'll be in?"

"Anytime after four" She promised, waving as he left down the corridor and then upstairs to his own apartment. She shut the door behind him and went back into her bedroom, lounging on the bed until she fell asleep.

000

Konan enjoyed her work - she really did. What she didn't enjoy was the loudness first thing in the morning, when she was sans-coffee and only mildly awake. The Warrens, as she had affectionately dubbed the orphanage, was a perpetually loud and lively place, where creativity thrived and hope was in the hearts of everybody that stepped through the front door. Granted, the front door was falling apart and they were in desperate need of a repair, but the sentiment was there.

The kids raced to and from rooms and she dodged them with an ease that came from years of practice, knowing who's footsteps would be fastest before they even rounded the corner. She blocked out most of the sound until she reached the staff room, hanging up her rain-speckled jacket and changing her outdoor wellies to her inside slippers.

"Mornin'. Coffee?" A cup wobbled towards her, half-filled with a dark liquid that vaguely resembled her usual order. She looked at it dubiously. "...more milk?" The cup was removed and carefully placed on the counter, a pair of socked feet slipping up onto their toes as the milk was taken from the upper fridge. Konan placed herself at the small kitchen table and allowed the boy to dollop more milk into her coffee, which he brought to her with all the grace of a barely-there waiter. "Mi'lady"

"Thanks, Hikoya"

"So..." He shuffled himself onto the chair opposite her, glancing at the staff room door. "Did you think about it?"

"About what?" She asked, blowing over the top of her coffee mug.

"The Deal" The boy leant over eagerly with his fingers lacing together, all business. "You said you'd think about it"

"...Right" Konan had no idea what the deal was. She said so many things to so many of the kids that it was superbly easy to forget things. "..refresh my memory" She hinted.

"You useless wench!" He fired. "Why do I give you coffee?!" He reached forwards and cupped his hands around the mug, on top of hers. He tugged, trying to sway it back to him.

"You'll burn yourself" She warned him, keeping her hands so firm on the mug that they quickly began to tingle and burn. Her face remained amused. "Hikoya?" The boy flopped backwards, his whole lanky upper half falling over the chair to a dangerous point.

"Ugh!" He exasperated. "Little-"

"The flowers" She recalled. "You want to help me with the greenhouse and in exchange, I teach...you..." It was on the tip of her tongue. The greenhouse for- what?

"Damnit, I told you _yesterday. _Yesterday!"

"A lot happened yesterday, kiddo. And there were a lot of things to do - you don't make life easy"

"The _girl" _He hissed. "I help you with the greenhouse and you help me get the girl"

Ah. Now she remembered.

"Yes. Yes - I remember that. I told you I couldn't force her to like you. I never agreed to anything. No dice"

"I didn't - do you _listen?" _The boy jumped up from his seat, the chair sliding back as he placed his hands slapped-down on the table. "You said you'd think it over when I said I'd help with the greenhouse!"

"You couldn't keep Freddie alive, what's to say you can manage a plant?" She challenged. It was unfair, she knew, because Hikoya had loved that goldfish like it was the twin brother he'd never had. Alas, she hadn't got much else on the kid in order to make him realise just how precious her greenhouse was to her.

"Freddie's a goldfish" _Present tense. Not over it. _She noted. "And he got a disease"

"Plants get diseases" She tried to hold back a smile.

"You're in-tol-erable" He threw his head back and marched to the door - and then she cracked. He turned at her laughter and folded his arms over his chest. "And now you mock me"

She grinned at him.

"I'll give you a trial run with the greenhouse. From today until Friday" His head counted, bobbing three times for three days. He then looked confused.

"I can't win her in three days, idiot"

"_Trial _run" She explained. "Finish the week without murdering my plants and I'll plan everything I can to make her notice you" His face broke into a grin. "But" She said, cherishing the impatience on his face as she sipped her coffee. "If she doesn't like you - and I remind you that you _can't _force her to..." The boy nodded eagerly, though. "You can't use the greenhouse as leverage; the plants are innocent" He gave a final decisive nod with a grin.

"Thanks" He ducked his head into his collar and raced from the kitchen, leaving Konan at the table to savour what she could of a quiet morning.


	3. Chapter 3

**AME (still). **

Five minutes later, she was in the classroom helping the Youngers read and write. The coffee had kicked in and she wasn't as grumpy or _'intolerable'. _

She spent the morning with all of them, helping them better their work and giving them breaks in between - play breaks, she called them. They'd play duck-duck-goose or hangman or even pass the parcel if she was prepared. That day, she wasn't and they had a round of hangman. They sometimes hated her for it if it was a particularly hard word - but they enjoyed the break nonetheless.

She was by no means a school teacher, or even a teaching assistant. Her actual income involved a variety of things - sometimes she'd sell her flowers, while others, she'd easily win a poker game or two. Her paper-art she saved for home. In the city that rained more than the peopled breathed, it was hard to make a business out of the appreciation of paper. She saved that for herself.

She got paid sometimes for her volunteer work at The Warrens, but it wasn't a reliable income and she never expected it when it came. Her main source of steady finance was her part-time work at the The Forgery.

She worked with a few of the men that had known her father, forging weaponry that was mass-shipped to the city centre, and from there - to any other villages. They were paid rewardingly for their work - and it was _brilliant_ work. The detail was fine, the craftsmanship individual to each weapon - and the sheer weight of them made them the most valuable and desirable - light as a feather, sharp as glass and hard as stone. _Beauty in destruction, _was their silent blessing for each weapon forged.

Nobody thought twice of the fact that a _girl _would do such a thing. She was five when her father died - she barely remembered him. But the faces that took her in under their wings, bearded burly men who comforted her, kept her warm by the fire as they drank their beer with hearty laughter. She grew to love those men like they were all a disjointed part of her father, and it only seemed natural that she learn their trade.

It started when she refused to be left alone. As an only child, she'd relied heavily on the attention of her father. She was quiet and didn't talk much with the other kids - she didn't _need _anybody else. So when her father died and she found herself quite alone, she didn't want to leave those rugged men that made her laugh - so she naturally brought herself day after day, sunrise after sunrise, to their workplace with bottles of water loaded into her small bagpack. Armed with bribery, she forced them to let her stay and in return she gave out the bottles.

It became a ritual for the most part of her childhood, where she watched from a distance - up close if she could get there - and gradually learnt the art and skill of forging a brand new weapon.

"Konan?" Class was over and the kids were drawing on papers. They were sprawled out freely on the floor, some with their legs in the air, their hands working hard at their artworks.

"Hm?" She looked up from her absent-minded folding of a scrap sheet of card, seeing The Matron at the door.

"Hikoya's in the nurses office again. Says he won't explain to anyone but you" She added a smile on which meant that it wasn't serious, but the strain was evident on The Matrons face. Hikoya was getting to be a hassle, only ever answering to Konan. "I'll keep an eye on this lot, you go on" She encouraged.

When Konan got to the nurses office, she sat on the bed next to the boy. He had tissues up his bloodied nose and a bandage on his arm.

"Fight?" She guessed.

"Revenge" He corrected. "Bastard went for her, didn't he?" _So, a fight then. _

"Who?" She asked.

"Benji! Tried to get one in on Teru"

"He was going to _hit _her?" She asked, frowning.

"No, idiot" Hikoya unplugged his nose with a disgusted face. "He was going to _kiss _her"

"...You got into a fight with Benji because he was going to kiss Teru?"

"We have a winner!" He sang as best he could. "You gotta' get me in there, man, and soon!" Konan tried not to laugh. "I can't wait for a trial run with your plants. You _gotta' _help me now"

"I didn't realise Benji was such a threat" She said, eyeing Hikoya carefully. "But...if you say so"

"I'm not _threatened _by Benji!" He swiped a tissue under his nose and seemed satisfied that the bleeding had stopped. "I'm _concerned _that Teru will fall for his idiocy" He pulled a face. "He's not the brightest tool, is he?"

"And I suppose you are?" She grinned.

"Oi, look here" He punched her arm like a brother would. "Will you help me out or not?" Konan considered it for a few moments.

"You'll owe me one" She said quietly. "Whenever I come a'calling, you'll be the one to come a'running, yes?"

"Mi'lady" He mock bowed and jumped from the bed. "So, what do I do?"

Konan began explaining the inner workings of a girls mind the best she could, that not every girl was the same - and Teru was not like most girls. Or perhaps she was, in terms of the girls that grow up in Amegakure. But for arguments sake, she was not a girly girl, but nor was she a tomboy as such. She could pack a punch if she meant it, and generally was very thoughtful before doing much of anything - which was Hikoya's advantage point.

000

The rain was only a light drizzle as she made her way home. She wasn't working at The Forgery today, but she still stopped by with the water bottles.

"Oi, while you're here..." Kuto grabbed her hips and lifted her up onto a table like she was five again. Now, it was nothing, and the man was strong enough to lift her like she still weighed as much as a child.

He disappeared into the black depths of the vast space that was The Forgery, appearing again with something long and wrapped in brown paper.

"For Jiraiya" Kuto put it over her knee and then placed his fist on the table, the other scratching at his beard. "Tell him he can pay next time, but I'm charging him extra"

"Why...what did he do?" Kuto chuckled at this. "What did he make _you _do?" She corrected.

"Nothing, Kid" Kuto pointed at the object. "Just make sure he gets it and tell him what I said, yeah?"

"Sure" Her hands stroked its figure and she guessed at 'sword'. Strong hilt, light blade...

She was then shoved aside with a playful swipe, her butt sliding across the table where she toppled off at the end.

"Run on home now" Kuto waved at her and she knew she was dismissed.

"See you tomorrow, then!" She stuck her tongue out and left.

She fiddled with the object the whole way home, trying to make out why in the world Jiraiya would want such a thing. When she entered the apartment building, he was already waiting at the top of the first set of stairs. She held the object out.

"Kuto said you can pay next time, and he's charging extra"

"...Seems fair" Jiraiya took the object and placed it across the stair rail. "How was work?"

"Same-old" But she still smiled. "I'm gonna' make some food - you want any?" She asked, feeling her stomach on the fringes of hunger.

"Maybe another time" He grinned at her.

"Other plans?" She hinted.

"Not the kind that you're thinking of" He teased.

000

He didn't come to see her at half four like he said he would. She wasn't particularly worried, already used to his ever-changing plans, but it did leave a sort of lull in her evening. She busied herself with making a pass-the-parcel game for the next day, and then created a bunch of paper flowers until she could pick some new, live ones.

It was the next day that something odd struck her. She woke up with an odd sense of relief - a perfect calm. Her morning routine was the same as always with breakfast, a wash and then getting changed before walking to work. But the walk felt light - the _air _felt light and different.

During her walk to The Warrens, she heard people observe the same - that something felt rightly different.

"_About time, too" _One lady remarked, old enough to be Konan's grandmother. She passed through the town with her hood up, shielded against the light morning drizzle. But it _wasn't _just drizzle. She couldn't put her finger on it.

She walked into The Warrens and shredded her coat, heading straight for the staff room. She placed her bag on the floor and her coat on the back of a chair to dry. Her wellies were next, off and on the drying rack as she put on her indoor slippers. Someone had already turned on the radio.

They'd officially announced the deaths of the Uchiha clan and their clan leaders. They weren't calling it an accident any more - it was a mass murder and on account of the Uchiha's allegedly betraying the city and withholding important information from other cities. As far as reports could tell, there were no survivors.

Tsunade had confirmed that she hadn't authorised any action from Konoha's Anbu forces, further enforced by a few of their team leaders agreeing that there had been no order issued to ambush the Uchiha facility. The speculation was Danzo Shimura's Root forces but nothing had been confirmed - and that was all they were saying. Root had allegedly been shut down for the past decade.

Something sank in Konan's stomach, thinking of Tsunade, probably trying to keep the peace in the city. She said a quick and silent prayer for the lost ones and their families and any possible survivors - and then her day began.

Half way through the day, just after lunchtime, she heard the beginnings of an argument. She could clearly hear Hikoya's voice and someone elses - so she started for the playroom - but another one of the 'teachers' was trying to get to the bottom of the argument, horrified with each word that seemed to come out of Hikoya's mouth. Konan hovered by the door.

"You can't say that! Everybody knows what happened; you're wrong!" Torren was a skinny thing, with glasses and a usually battered book in his hand. He was pointing it at Hikoya.

"How would you know? Do you remember? No!" Hikoya fired.

"And you do?" Torren chided. "All you have is a book and a half-baked memory" Hikoya flew at him, nothing giving away his surprise attack. Konan stepped forwards then, but the other teacher was already prying Hikoya off of Torren.

She sent him to The Matron's office and he went limp in her grasp.

"God's" He lashed out and the teacher had to let him go in fear of him hitting her. "I hate you all!" He raced out of the room and wasn't to be seen for the rest of the day.


	4. Chapter 4

Hikoya didn't go to classes, or have any lunch, or even show up for Konan's pass-the-parcel. The staff were concerned that they hadn't managed to find him by the time classes had finished at three and the kids had retreated to their rooms; so Konan stayed behind and searched all of Hikoya's hiding places, her chest tightening every time he wasn't there.

"Shit" She breathed, after searching the last nook that she thought he'd be. The only other option could be...

_He wouldn't have left, would he? _

She'd put on her coat, her wellies and grabbed her bag before quickly telling someone she'd be back in a bit.

The rain was heavier, thicker now than it was that morning.

"Hikoya!" She called, ducking under a broken, leaking pipe of the old apartment block. "Hikoya!"

The apartment block was nothing more than a concrete playground now, where kids dodged the pipes and the crumbling walls and dared each other to see how high they could climb the broken stair cases. Their 'government' hadn't done anything about the hazardous place since it had been attacked nearly ten years ago.

She called his name again.

"Go away, Konan!" She sighed with relief at the boys voice, turning to where she'd heard it. His legs were dangling over the edge of what would have been a third floor apartment - somewhere around the kitchen area, she suspected. He couldn't have got up there easily.

"Please come down" She tried, but he shook his vibrant hair stubbornly.

"No. I'm staying here. Right here" She'd had suspicions for a while that he knew where his family had lived, but had never thought that he'd act on it.

There were two types of orphans in the orphange; the type that knew what had happened to their parents, and those that didn't. Nobody knew for sure what had happened to Hikoya's, only that they must have been in the building when the attack happened - because they'd dropped him off with a friend the night before and were never seen again after the building collapsed.

But Hikoya had been barely a year old - he couldn't remember - _shouldn't _remember. But there were probably documents with the information, and if he had been stubborn enough, he might've just found out where his parents used to live before they'd died.

"Okay, then" She shouldered her bag and began climbing the dubious stairs, the metal slippery and wet underneath her fingers and feet - and her feet felt very unsteady in the largeness of her wellies.

"...don't slip" Was all Hikoya murmured, until she'd reached his level on the stair. She daren't approach the ledge in fear of it breaking and injuring them both, so she slipped her legs through the stair and made herself comfortable - _wet, _but comfortable.

"I'm _not _mad" He grumbled. She glanced at him, with his fists bunched up in his lap, atop a brown notebook that she'd seen a lot and never heard much about. "I'm not"

"He's just being silly, then" Konan agreed.

"Then why didn't you _tell _him that" Hikoya huffed. "I saw you, in the corner"

"What did he say?" She asked quietly. "He made you really angry, didn't he?" Hikoya looked away from her and she knew she was right. "Was it about your parents?"

"Sort of" He admitted. "...Said I was wrong" He then muttered. "I'm not wrong"

"About what?" She prompted.

"The story" His fingers moved to his knees, where he picked at the faded jeans with intent, the brown book now held securely with one hand. "The one that my ma' told me"

Parents were a sensitive subject for all of the kids, whether they pretended they'd got past their loss or not. Kids weren't meant to lose their parents. Konan hadn't talked much to Hikoya about his parents. There was a counsellor for that kind of thing and Konan wasn't really qualified. But she knew that Hikoya had been only one year old when he'd lost his parents and that he wasn't very likely to remembered much. Out of comfort, she asked.

"Would you tell me?" Hikoya seemed happy with her response, his eyes wide and hopeful but ever so slightly suspicious.

"You want to hear it?" She nodded at him. "...You can't call me mad, okay?"

"Wouldn't dare" She smiled.

"Okay..." Hikoya turned to face her. "Then..." He slowed, as if changing his mind. "Can we go someplace else?" He looked around, seeming a little nervous now.

"Sure. Hot chocolate?"

"Not at the orphanage" He pulled a face and climbed away from the edge. Konan slipped her legs from the stair and began climbing down, relieved that Hikoya was doing the same.

When they reached the cafe, she treated Hikoya and herself to a hot chocolate with cream, and marshmallows and the chocolate sprinkles on top. It was then that they found the quietest corner and huddled together like they were conspiring against the rest of the world.

He placed the brown book in front of them on the table.

"It was my ma's" He said quietly. She wondered how he'd got it. "Whenever I picture her in my head, she's always holding this, reading it and writing in it"

"Is it a diary?" She asked.

"No" He shook his head. "I don't think so... It's not about her"

"The story?"

"Yeah...I think so" He opened the first page, quickly brushing past it all until he reached the point he wanted to find. And he did it with an ease with which Konan assumed he'd done it every night.

"Can I tell you a secret?" He said, in all seriousness.

"You know it" She held her fist out, fingers clenched, and he bumped his own fist to hers with a reassured smile.

"Okay...then...my name, I don't think it's really Hikoya"

"Alright" She nodded a little. "Birth records?" He shook his head and turned to a page in the book, but then closed it completely.

"It's complicated" He whispered, pulling the book close to his chest. "I don't think I should"

"Does anybody else know?" He shook his head, deep in thought.

"But..." He then lowered the book back onto the table. "I guess..." He looked at her. "If I was gonna' tell anyone, it'd be you" She felt a little tingle of pride, even if she suspected that the boy was simply trying to fabricate himself a past.

He wouldn't be the first child to do something like this, find the smallest detail and blow it into the largest possible scenario.

He opened the book to the first page, his finger underlining the opening message.

"My dearest Yahiko" Konan read quietly, the picture underneath of an unmistakable one year old, happy and grinning with a woman and a man. "Ma'...and Pa'" He pointed at them individually - he'd obviously gotten his bright hair from his mother.

And, Konan realised, that the one year old was definitely the boy right next to her. He pointed to a tiny mark on his head - just above his eyebrow - obvious and dark in the photo, and now only a faded scar in front of her eyes.

"If you put the 'Ya' of Yahiko at the end...you get Hikoya" He said quietly.

"Sweet flowering roses" She muttered, something else on her mind altogether. Hikoya turned a wad of pages - nearly three quarters of the book. She looked at his concentrated face. _He has no idea. _Her mind went blank, her veins running cold. _That name... it means something. I can't remember…_

"They call me that till here" A new chapter. "The handwriting has changed - I don't think it's my Ma's any more...but, I'm Hikoya here, see?" He pointed to the name, written down in scribbled handwriting.

"I think it's written by the man they left me with - Koto-kun" Kotoka was the man who raised Yahiko until he was four years old; when he died, Kotoka's neighbour brought Hikoya to the orphanage and he'd been there for the past five years. Hikoya did have memories of that time, and enjoyed telling her about some of them.

He turned again to the last page, a hauntingly half-written sentence on a left hand page.

"I think...I want you to read it. All of it" He said quietly, and Konan hesitated. "It's...not the same as...but...I think you'll get it and...maybe explain what happened?...I...i'm not sure..."

There was something wrong with the book - something that she wasn't sure she wanted to get herself involved with. But Hikoya was - and she couldn't let him do it alone. If he wanted her to, then she would. She would help him.

"But you have to keep it at the orphanage" Was his only compromise. "I'll give it you in the morning and you _have _to give it back before you leave. Even on your days off. Do you promise?" He looked at her so seriously that she didn't have time to think anything other that _yes. _

"I promise" She held out her pinky and he took it in his; they shook. He pulled the book inside his jacket and hugged it to his chest.

"Yahiko?" She tried, the name sounding foreign in her mouth, but also kind of..._right. _It suited him. And there was something familiar about it. Something that-

"Weird, huh" He laughed. _Oh… shit. _Her head swam a little. "I guess we should go back to the orphanage now, right?" She nodded, faking a smile and edging out of her seat and following Hikoya's footsteps all the way back to The Warrens.

She warded off all of the teachers and their questions, allowed Hikoya to run to his room before she explained that she'd found him by a random building, wet and shivering. The humane thing for her to do was _obviously _get him dry and warm and comforted, so she'd taken him for a drink before bringing him back - and she apologised for not telling them sooner.

She left before they could argue, her head spinning the whole way.

"Oi, you're _late" _Kuto and Ganji were waiting, amused, by the entrance to The Forgery. "We're gaspin' for-" She emptied the water bottles practically into their arms and apologised quickly.

"Are you alright?" Ganji asked, his bald head speckled with black as he rubbed a hand over it, his dark brows furrowed in concern. "Any lads chasing you back?"

"No" She spared a laugh and felt a little better. "Just an odd day, I think"

"Well calm down before you hurt someone, yeah?" Kuto laughed and patted her head. "And walk home a little slower before you hurt yourself"

"Sure" She waved goodbye and walked slower for all of eight paces. She didn't know why she was so nervous, but the overwhelming sense to just be _home _felt like it was pushing her the whole way.


	5. Chapter 5

Konan didn't even register that she had knocked on Jiraiya's door until he'd opened it, confused.

"Pipsqueak?" He questioned.

"Err" She stumbled, wondering why on earth she'd even gone to his door. "Why does the name _'Yahiko' _sound so familiar?" She asked quietly. His eyes didn't betray him if he did remember, but his hand wobbled on the door as if he didn't know whether or not to open it or close it in her face.

"Not in the corridor, Pip" He shook his head and glanced around. "Gimmee' five minutes; I'll be at yours" She whirled and walked back to her apartment with heavy footsteps. She _knew _the name, it was right there - on the tip of her tongue. She just couldn't place it.

She unlocked her door, poured herself a vodka shot and downed it. That kid was going to get her killed, she could feel it. Something was buzzing through her veins like adrenaline and she didn't know why.

True, this time, to his word, Jiraiya knocked on her door five minutes later and they hovered in the corridor. He edged her into the living room and didn't sit down - instead, stood rigidly like the former man he was and watched her like a parent ready to scold.

"What?" She finally asked, frowning.

"You'd have been, what...six, seven?" He murmured. "Twelve years ago...makes you...six and a bit?"

"Yeah...why?"

"Do you remember The Aurora Genocides?" Her blood ran cold and she shivered.

"Barely"

"A lot of the kids from that time got it washed out of their system with Hanzo's propaganda" But she remembered to hate that name, she found. Jiraiya seemed hesitant to continue. "Why do you want to know, anyway?"

"...It popped up" She said vaguely. "I was curious" She wanted him to continue but could feel Jiraiya's resistance. He didn't want to. He was quiet for a long while and it wasn't entirely uncomfortable. Eventually, he spoke.

"Yahiko was basically the catalyst for The Aurora Genocides. If he hadn't been killed, there wouldn't have been retaliation and Hanzo wouldn't have given the go-ahead for the Genocides to take place. It's not mentioned any more - Amegakure's Anbu are still edgy about the topic and Hanzo is still paranoid that the resistance Yahiko stood for will come back - it's not table-talk" He scolded. "And you should forget you ever heard it, and shut your ears against hearing it again"

"Okay" She held her hands up in mock surrender. "Sheesh..."

"Who said it?" He asked after a few moments.

"Said what?" She played his game with a smile.

"Not to me, idiot" He snapped. "Who said it? A random person? Or someone you know?"

"Why? Does it matter?" She asked, but his face told her it did. "...Someone I know"

_"Who?"_

"...Hikoya" She said carefully. Jiraiya swore lightly and started pacing.

"Where did he pick it up from?" She wasn't going to answer - she couldn't because she'd promised - but it didn't matter because he continued. "No, forget it" He turned on her. "You make sure he forgets that name and doesn't mention it out loud again - you hear?"

"Yeah...sure" She suddenly became worried. "He's just a kid, Jiraiya, he can't do that much" His look said it all, his eyes cold and sure, daring her to challenge him. "Okay - fine" She turned away, uncomfortable.

"And don't go to the library" He added, after a while. "I know you" He said. "You'll go straight for that place and raid all the archives for any info on that night and I'm telling you - you can't"

"I won't!" She snapped. Really, if he was making this big a deal over it then it really wasn't worth it. She had no idea why she was getting worked up in the first place. "I won't, okay? Sheesh, calm down"

He left shortly after and Konan made herself some food, drank more vodka and went to sleep on the sofa.

000

The next morning at The Warrens, Hikoya was waiting at the bottom of the staircase for her, his book in his hands. As soon as she'd discarded her sodden coat and put on her slippers, he gave it to her with care.

"Treat it like a baby, okay?"

"Hikoya" He paused at her tone. "I don't think I can" She held it back out for him to take but he didn't. "And I don't think you should either. It should be something for you to keep secret, to keep safe" He was already shaking his head in protest.

"I _want _you to"

"You don't remember who..." She remembered Jiraiya's warning and fell quiet. "That name- _don't _say it" She halted the boy as his mouth opened to remind her. "There are things associated with it that aren't good"

"I know - it's in _here" _He waved the book a little, both of their hands on its edges. "_Please _Konan" He pressed it back towards her. "If you read it, you don't have to help me win Teru"

"It's not that, Hikoya" She said softly.

"I won't let anybody else read it" He said firmly. "But I want you to. I thought about it last night and I know it's a good decision to make; I'm not being stupid. Please? Read it?"

In the end, she couldn't deny the boy any longer. He was adamant that she read it and he was just as sure that nobody else would if she did. It was something clearly very important to him so she did, keeping it close to her at all times and reading it only during her spare time and when she was alone. And with each page, she uttered _'Sweet flowering roses' _to herself and turned the page to continue.


	6. Chapter 6

**KONOHA:**

Sasuke watched his brother's face in anger. He was beyond forgiveness now, beyond wanting to understand. He was ready to kill his brother for his part in their family's deaths and he was seconds away from doing it.

"Stop it" Kakashi seized the knives that Sasuke had loaded his fingers with, blocking the sheet with Itachi's quickly-painted face on it. "It won't do any good"

"Yes, it will" Sasuke reclaimed a throwing knife and it hurled into painted-Itachi's right eye. He didn't care that he grazed Kakashi's arm a little, wouldn't admit that his fingers shook as he tried to blind his brothers likeness. _Because it's not like he's practically blind, anyway. _

"Tsunade wants to see you. Come on" Kakashi had kept with the boy like a loyal body guard, just as he'd promised.

Sasuke wasn't sure whether to be grateful for the man's continuing presence and familiarity, or to loath him for allowing his mother to run back. And furthermore for disallowing Sasuke to go after her. And maybe just a bit more for continuing on _without _his mother. Or perhaps a little further for not even considering going back to search for survivors.

He'd taken his message straight to Tsunade as planned and she'd placed them both in her most protected room - damn-near outside hers.

In her fury at the unfolding events, she'd hastened to keep Sasuke safe and had vaguely mentioned something about keeping _"the last of those proud Uchiha's alive" _- which had knocked Sasuke just a little more than he thought it would. Was he the last? Was Itachi already _dead? He deserved it_, Sasuke thought. Itachi could have been close enough to prevent their parents death - so why weren't they with him, right now?

He envied the person who'd killed his brother, if that was the case. Prayed with all he had that it was with his own father's last movements, that he lunged the sword through Itachi's major organs and fatally wounded him.

Their mother had been adamant that Itachi's situation wasn't by any means one of his own choosing. That Danzo had a major part in it, that Itachi was misunderstood by most but that he _did_ love his family. If that was the case, how did he allow them all to die?

_All to die. _Sasuke could probably count on just one hand how many Uchiha's were left. Hours after the raid in the tower, Sasuke was the only known survivor - and that was only known by Kakashi, Tsunade and three of her most loyal guards. Not even Sasuke's friends knew whether or not he'd survived the attack, and he wasn't sure if that was Tsunade's intention or not.

By the time the radio announcement claimed that Anbu had definitely not been the ones to slaughter the Uchiha clan, Sasuke was still the only known member alive, known only by those select few. Not even Itachi had been mentioned - Tsunade had said nothing of the brother and Sasuke was growing impatient.

Sasuke abandoned his weapons - the ones he'd taken to sharpening as an easy distraction - and donned his cloak with uncertainty. It reminded him of running away, of hiding. And though it might have been the thing to save his life, it was the thing that stopped his brother from finding him and facing him face to face.

But Sasuke was silently thankful that Kakashi had the hindsight to bring the cloaks. There was something comforting for the moment about being hidden amongst the shadows.

They were escorted to Tsuande's office, the whole five minute trek down the corridor and to another floor. Sasuke had already practiced his speech, how he'd make her see that his brother was the one at fault and that he _had _to pay for his crimes. As a citizen of Konoha, it was law, surely.

Tsunade was tired, though. Sasuke saw her eyes now had shadows, but her usual energetic determination shone through. She dismissed the guards and Kakashi and Sasuke pulled down their hoods.

"Sasuke" She greeted, coming over to him and taking his arm. "How are you holding up?"

"Have you found my brother?" He asked. "And what about the bodies?" He switched. "Have you brought them all back-?" _Back for a traditional Uchiha burial _was right on his lips, but it couldn't form into words.

"We have a team working on that" She assured him. "But...there's something else"

"My brother" He sensed. She'd said _'something else' _in the same way that people used to compare the two when they were younger.

"...Are you armed?"

"Yes" Kakashi said instantly.

"Should I be?" Sasuke asked, feigning innocence. Tsunade lifted his cloak to the side, revealing his waist and boots filled as discretely as possible with weapons. Her look said it all and he began removing them. "Your guards are clearly morons" Sasuke uttered.

"They don't have a reason to suspect you'd hurt me, boy" She snapped. "But I suppose why not, hey? Everybody else is ganging up on the higher ups" He felt bad instantly and hurried to remove all of his knives.

"Thank you" She scooped them all up and put them in a bin, kicking it straight to the opposite side of the room. "Now, anything else I should know?" Sasuke shook his head, sure that he'd removed everything. He turned to Kakashi, realising he hadn't unloaded his own.

"Him?" He prompted. Kakashi spared him a raised eyebrow and nothing more. Clearly he wasn't removing anything.

"I trust he'll keep his emotions in check" She said vaguely, moving back to her desk and leaning on it. Kakashi followed at her side and Sasuke felt oddly bare. He gave himself a second to berate himself for allowing Kakashi to have such an impact, and then put up his usual confident front.

They were looking at him like parents ready to deliver a punishment, but he couldn't think what he'd done to anger the two of them. Her voice raised, then. "You have three minutes, and then you need to leave"

Sasuke instantly felt abandoned.

"If you wanted me gone, you didn't have to bloody-well take me from them, did you?" He glared at Kakashi.

"Not you, little brother"

Sasuke froze. His fingers itched for his knives but they were in the bucket half way across the room.

"You" He felt his fingers curl into the next best thing - a fist - and his body tense for a fight. "Why are _you _here?" He whirled, Itachi standing just shy of the shadowed wall, dressed in full Konoha Anbu suit - an easy disguise probably to detract attention from himself.

His mask was sitting atop his head, spotless and free of blood. Had he changed? Or was he that brilliant that he'd slain their family without dirtying himself? Suddenly, all feelings of revenge and anger were gone.

"You should have just killed me with the rest of them, if that's what you were planning" His voice was low, he wished it was louder - a yell or a shout would have been much more appropriate. But Itachi had a certain air which usually deflated any outward anger - extinguishing it from any course of physical action. At least, that had usually been the case with Sasuke.

"Why is he here?" Sasuke then turned to Tsunade. "What _possible _reason could he have to see me? What possible _thing _could he say to make _any _of this okay?!"

The boys fists tightened until his palms bore the result of half-mooned markings. He slammed his eyes shut, but couldn't shake the image of his mother ripping her hand out of Kakashi's and running back, away from them.

When he opened them, Itachi was on his knees in front of him, that odd mask lying face down on the floor next to a knife. His long hair was dry, a clean brush over one shoulder in a sleekness that Sasuke could never replicate. And upon closer inspection, Itachi had been wounded. His bare, exposed neck was scraped and bruised in a threatening way that suggested a deserved punishment.

Anbu didn't generally have the time to engage in a fight - it was swift, clean and clear and anything more was generally left to the Shinobi. Which meant somebody had purposefully threatened Itachi.

Sasuke slowly bent down and took the knife from next to the Anbu mask - Tsunade started a little. Itachi said and did nothing else, even when Sasuke placed the blade over Itachi's throat. Tsunade made her discomfort known, a sound escaping from her throat - but Itachi held out his hand to halt her or Kakashi from speaking or moving.

"He is old enough to make the decision himself" He said clearly, and Sasuke felt like he was being cheated. _It shouldn't be this easy, _he thought. There was no satisfaction in having Itachi's death _brought _to him. He wanted an argument, he wanted a _fight _and a challenge and hell-fire he just wanted a _reaction!. _

No, he realised. He wanted Itachi to explain.

He removed the knife.

"Explain" He demanded. "Get up, and explain" He seethed. Itachi rose to a stand, his mask in his fingers as Sasuke clutched the knife in his. "And you have less than a minute" Sasuke warned.

"Then you should know two things" Itachi said clearly. "No matter what outcome we considered, you were inevitably going to get hurt" He didn't even pause. "And the other - that you haven't lost all of your family"

"I'm not sure you count any more" Sasuke hissed.

"You haven't lost all of your family" Itachi repeated.

"My parents?" He said loudly. "I've lost them! No?" Itachi said nothing, didn't defend the fact that they were _his _parents too or dispute the fact that Sasuke was right. He was _right. _His parents - plural and together and both of them alike - were gone.

"I hate you" Sasuke breathed, his knife-hand wavering.

"Time" Tsunade called. "Sasuke - let him go" He hadn't even realised he was clutching Itachi's arm, the material bunched up in his fingers. He released it.

"I _hate _you" He repeated, finding no emotion whatsoever in Itachi's eyes.

"I know, little brother" And then he was gone, just as silent as he'd entered.

"What the hell was the purpose of that?" Sasuke demanded.

Tsunade made him sit down, gave him a glass of water and a minute or so to recover. And then she began to explain.


	7. Chapter 7

Tsunade explained that she was in a tricky situation with both Anbu and Danzo Shimura - and by association, she suspected, Root. Although Tsunade was the official leader of Konoha, she did have her high level advisers and leaders; Danzo Shimura was one of them, and although Root - his own formed organisation - was supposedly disbanded nearly a decade ago, she never quite believed it or him.

Nobody had seen the attack on the Uchiha's tower coming. She reaffirmed that Konoha's Anbu forces had absolutely nothing to do with the attack and that they had been the first on scene to resolve what they could of the situation.

"Which was nothing" Sasuke interjected, leaning forwards and resuming his usual sitting position - elbows on knees, fingers laced somewhere near his chin. "They were all dead"

"...unfortunately, yes" She dodged describing any more of the inside actions of the facility, explaining that once the security realised the threat was there, they had less than half an hour to decide on a course of action before they were all dead.

She admitted that most thought the attack was Anbu, but she was confident in denying that fact and equally confident in saying that she was still getting to the bottom of who the culprits were.

Which meant she was looking into Danzo and his allegedly-disbanded Root.

"What did they do, exactly?" Sasuke asked. "Root?"

"They took their orders from Danzo specifically - autonomous from Anbu and my authority. Supposedly worked for the greater good - for what would benefit Konoha. As long as it did that, they were limitless. It caused too much conflict, got into too much trouble and conflict with some of the other villages-"

"Like Amegakure" Sasuke said. "The Aurora Genocide?"

"Yes. That" Tsunade said, void of any and all emotion. "The programme was shut down soon after and I've heard nothing since. But my informants have said that the similarity of the work is too obvious to ignore; it's a possibility. And I don't like it"

"Why would killing the whole of my clan, be _beneficial _for Konoha? We're a supporting family - we _were _a-" Sasuke ground his teeth.

"The Anbu groups I assigned to...to clean-up, found nothing out of the ordinary. There were no files, no documents..." She then picked out sheets of paper from a pile on her desk. "But Kakashi gave me these; I'm assuming you, nor Kakashi, have actually read these?" They had fold marks on them.

"Was that...what..." Sasuke glanced at Kakashi. "That's what my father gave to you to give to ...you" He indicated to Tsunade. "What is it?" Though, he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know.

"The first sheet is a letter - more of a note. Would you like to read it?" Sasuke shook his head, no. "Then I'll paraphrase" She shifted it a little. "Fugaku writes that the facility is being overrun - it isn't Anbu; his security confirms it. He says he suspect's it's Root - as a side note, Sasuke, you're father never believed they'd disbanded" Tsunade added, and then went back to her paraphrasing. "He suspect's it's Root and he knows what they're after" Sasuke was on the edge of his seat, eyes wide and calculating.

"What? What did they want that badly?" The papers were lowered. "Tsunade" He warned. He didn't want her to shy away from it because he was now an orphaned member of a once-great clan. The last thing he wanted was to be pitied and coddled and _left out. _

"He wrote...that they wanted Them. Capital T - and specific"

"Means nothing" Sasuke said flippantly. "Who the fuck are Them?"

"They are my issue - not yours. Your family have been dutifully protecting certain...figures ..." She turned to Kakashi, unsure. But he nodded. "For a long time. It's possible that Danzo found out and wanted to act on it - certain things..."

"Stop it" Sasuke snapped. "Just _tell _me! Can I help? I want to _do _something"

"No" Tsunade was firm. "Sasuke. No. I need you safe until this whole thing blows over"

"My family is dead" Sasuke said, just as firm. "It will _never _blow over"

"Sasuke" Kakashi said lightly. "For now, it's best if you stay here"

"And do what? Read? Listen to the world go on? I want to be useful and you're going to find me something to do, damnit, or I'll bloody-well find someone who can. I can research - if you don't want me to leave then I won't. But you _have _to include me on this. The only person I'm holding responsible is my brother - keep him away and we have a deal"

Tsunade wasn't sold on the idea, he could tell.

"There's nothing to research, Sasuke. I have a team working on uncovering anything related to Root and I have another team investigating Danzo. If your father suspected them, chances are it was. In case it wasn't, I have another team working on possible theories and I expect answers within the next few days. This will be solved, I assure you"

"These figures...that my father was supposedly hiding..."

"Not just your father, Sasuke. The clan were entrusted with it" Tsunade corrected.

"Why wasn't I entrusted, then? Why did my father never mention it?" Sasuke turned to Kakashi. "Was he ever going to?" Kakashi's impassive face suggested that no, Fugaku hadn't intended for Sasuke to know.

"Well now they're all dead because of it" Sasuke said quickly. "So who were _they_ and why were they worth_ dying_ for?"

"He is of age" Kakashi said quietly, still by Tsunade.

"I don't think Fugaku wanted this to be brought to Sasuke - or _any _of this generation. Kakashi-"

"He didn't plan on dying, Tsunade" Kakashi turned to Sasuke. "The boy should know what his family - his clan - have done; what they died to protect"

"I agree" Sasuke stared at Tsunade's shiny eyes, always full of ideas and thought and purpose.

"Okay" She breathed, finally. "But not now - and not here"

"What - no!" Sasuke was standing, his hands flat on the desk in seconds.

"Yes" Tsunade was adamant. "Not now. Not here. I'll get you. Now leave"

"Excuse me?" Sasuke gaped.

"I'm busy, Sasuke. The quicker I get this sorted, the more time I'll have to explain to you just what was so damned important, ok? Kakashi, please?" The man moved towards the door and Sasuke took the hint. He had all of five seconds before he reached the door, and in that space of time, he'd already begun feeling sorry for Tsunade again. He turned.

"I'm sorry that this falls on you" He said honestly. "I don't mean to make more trouble"

"I know" She waved her hand at him. "Cloaks" She reminded. They quickly threw their hoods up. "Good. Now leave" Her hands were on her temples in seconds, rubbing away the stress. Sasuke gave her one last apologetic glance and then left in silence.


	8. Chapter 8

**AMEGAKURE.**

Konan was sat on the roof, her legs brought up against her chest as she studied the village's skyline. Industrialist by nature, the village was made with metal, steel and iron - constructed on the backs of and by its citizens. People had fought and died for it and sometimes she was at a loss as to why. Amegakure was her home and she knew it like the back of her hand, but under Hanzo's rule, it was slowly becoming a paranoid mess.

She'd read nearly half of Hikoya's book and was being sucked in like a naive child. She desperately wanted to verify parts of it with Jiraiya but the boy had made her swear not to tell anybody else. And Jiraiya wouldn't be happy that she'd read it - he'd probably make her burn it and it was the last thing that Hikoya had of his parents.

Hanzo had always ruled Amegakure with an iron fist and a strict Anbu force - borderline assassins rather than the focused and trained Anbu forces of Tsunade's. She'd only ever heard nice things about Tsunade, and the justness and fairness that she had for her own Konoha and its people, and there was always going to be a comparison in the way that citizens viewed their leaders.

She hadn't realised how forceful, narrow-minded and borderline obsessive Hanzo's behaviour and actions had been until she'd read the accounts in Hikoya's book. It had made her so angry that she'd spent yesterday working off her fury in The Forgery, to which she spent her next day off - today - recovering from it. _Aching like weathered pipes and rotting wood._

She'd woken up late, had lunch late, and had no motive to do much of anything other than wallow in the rain whilst trying to find the good in the village that she'd grown up in.

The only thing that she could safely conclude as 'good' were the people of Amegakure.

Despite everything, they were still hopeful and genuine and kind natured. Hanzo couldn't destroy that. _The bad get's washed away in the rain - that's why. _The fruit-shop lady said that to her once, and she didn't believe it. Things don't just get washed away like that.

"My ass is wet" She mumbled, to nobody in particular. Her bare hands were cold, frozen even - probably numb - and she had to wonder what on earth possessed her to come outside dressed as she was. Her wellies had kept her feet averagely warm and thankfully quite dry. But the drizzle had soaked her jeans right through and her jacket was not at all that waterproof. She wobbled to a stand and gave the skyline a quick salute. From the rooftops, Amegakure was hopeful of something better for it's future, and there was something to look forward to in that.

000

A new week rolled around and Konan had nearly finished the book. She wouldn't deny that it made her feel just like a criminal reading it, but she'd readily admit that there was some truth to its contents. Some bits were familiar, others - when she thought about it - were the only possible explanations. Some bits weren't familiar and other bits dared to suggest things that she was sure Anbu would drag anybody away for if they agreed with it.

But to make her feel a little better, Hikoya got the girl. Teru had accepted his 'invite' to his numerous 'lunch-dates', which simply consisted of them eating lunch together. But it was sweet, and they were holding hands and everything.

000

She woke with a pressure over her mouth, to which she froze instantly, but the smell of that familiar smoke made her loosen a little.

The hand dropped away.

"Jiraiya?" She hissed, reaching for her bedside light and switching it on. "How did you get in?"

"Not the problem" He shifted and walked across her room and she glanced at the clock - just after two in the morning. She sat up, keeping the duvet over her legs. "I have a situation upstairs"

"I'm not posing as your daughter in order to get rid of a clingy-whore" She said, outright.

"Not that kind of problem" He shook his head and tossed the nearest article of clothing at her - her denim shorts. "Just get changed and come with me - I'll be outside" He was outside her room seconds later, shutting the door behind him. She slipped off her PJ shorts and grabbed a pair of jeans, buttoning them up as she found Jiraiya in the kitchen, chugging the vodka.

"Woah" She whispered. "It's two in the morning, stop" She swiped it from his hands and put it on the counter. "What's your problem?"

He took her bare arm and hauled her to his apartment; she barely managed to shut her door behind her, only then realising that she'd left her keys inside.

Jiraiya had her in his apartment in three seconds, flat against the wall in all seriousness.

"Im not gonna' lie" She said quietly. "You're making me a little nervous"

"What happens in the apartment, stays in the apartment"

"Fine, yes" She nodded, feeling her hair fall from it's bed-time knot. He then pulled her into his living room, where she instantly froze in place.

"He's not dead, is he?" She stared at the body on the couch, wrapped up in one of Jiraiya's oddly pattered blankets. "I'm not helping you dispose of a dead body"

"Not dead, Pip. Calm down" He left her side and went over to the unconscious form, muttering what she thought was an _'I think...'_.

"Is that... " She wandered closer, finding a bloodied discarded mask on the floor. Her body chilled. "Is he Anbu? She took a step back. "Sweet flowering roses, Jiraiya, you don't just _attack _Anbu - much less bring them half dead into your home! What are you-"

"Move" He pulled her into the kitchen space and gave her a bag - which he immediately started filling up. "I'm going to take care of him but I need you to do something for me"

"...okay" She nodded dubiously, her bare feet cold and icy on the tiles. She scrunched her toes. "What?" She prompted.

"I need you to lead a friend of mine to somewhere else"

"Out of Ame?" She asked.

"No, just somewhere safe. You know most of the hiding places, anyway. Right, Pip?"

"Yeah" Her teenage excursions around the village had been something of an adventure in her free time. Alarming Jiraiya on more than one occasion, when she'd told him of her numerous midnight walks around the kinds of places that perhaps a girl shouldn't go at night. Her response was always that he'd taught her well and there was nothing else to fear.

"Okay...just for the night; he'll know when to come back"

"Who?" She asked.

"Stop with the questions - turn around, slowly" She did a full one-eighty, saw nothing, and continued the rest of the way around. Her confused face said it all. There was nobody else in the apartment other than the unconscious Anbu body on the couch.

"Just find the hiding place, and stay there. He'll find you. Stay there - till morning"

"...what, the actual, fuck" She shook her head. "You've been drinking again, haven't you. It's called a _hiding _place for a-"

"Konan" He snapped, his hands either side of her face so she _had _to look straight at him, and his sober-filled eyes. He wasn't drunk. "Just do it, please"

"Fine" She shook her head out of his hands and he steered her back towards the apartment door, opening it silently. "You're all set, keep off the streets if you can" Jiraiya all but pushed her out of the apartment.

"Keep quiet, I'll explain after. Just go - and for the love of all things, Konan, please be careful" The door was closed and Konan felt just a bit abandoned. No, she _was _abandoned - with a ridiculous plan, no less!

"Okay" She sighed. "Okay" She wasn't sure where she was going to begin with - but she kept off the streets and wandered through the back routes - mentally check-listing all of the potential hiding places while trying to ignore the fact she was barefoot. When she settled on the perfect hiding place, she walked a little faster and was constantly concerned that she couldn't hear any footsteps behind her.

But she was highly aware of the fact that she was being followed and watched from somewhere and she wasn't sure she liked it.

She found her hiding place and waited a few seconds before going in. She wasn't entirely sure how whoever it was that was following her would know what to do. And how did she know that it was the right person? _What if it's Anbu? _Her head felt light.

And then there was somebody there. A shadow, perfectly silent and opposite her place by the inner door. How the hell was she to know if he was good or bad? Follow her or kill her?

"Oh fucking hell" She mumbled. "Why did I agree to this?" And then something was tossed at her. It was light and fell a few feet away from her position, but she made it out instantly. A white paper rose - one that was terribly made out of lined paper and - was that Jiraiya's hand writing? Yes. Only Jiraiya would swipe up any scrap paper he could, and only he could make one that badly. It must've been some sort of...reassurance?

"Okay..." She turned her back, against _all _of her senses and logic, and unlocked the door to the safe house. She kept it wide open and tried not to freak out when she felt the shadowy figure follow her inside. _Calm down. Friend of Jiraiyas. Calm down. Friend of Jiraiyas - not helping! Ugh... _

She said nothing, weaving her way in and out of the nooks and spaces of the abandoned building, finally reaching the brilliant little space behind the concrete-slab door.

They were untraceable now.

Her spine tingled with awareness of the fact that she was in a hidden, practically soundproof space with a (presumed) man that she didn't know. Scenarios instantly began to run through her head and her heart rate increased. _Why did I agree to this?!_

"Thank you" Man. Male - voice. Slightly unused and a bit croaky, a little deep and a lot tired. But there was a softness there.

"Um...yeah" She said lamely, sinking down against the wall and drawing her knees up to her chest. "Do you have a name?" She asked, trying to get a better picture of him.

He'd made hardly any sounds as he'd moved, and she recognised the cloak that he was wearing because Jiraiya had given her one just like it when she was younger. The hood was up, over his hair and forehead. She couldn't see the colour of his eyes, but his skin was contrastingly pale. And something was glittering.

"I suppose" He said quietly.

"Well, I'm Konan" She offered a smile in the hope that he'd see it as friendly. She'd hate to be stuck in a room until dawn with a man that didn't respond well to conversation. Or friendliness.

"The little blue haired girl from Ame" He said it in a way that had a suggestion of a joke, or some kind of title - but she didn't know.

"So what did you do?" She asked, trying to make conversation. His silence resumed and she assumed she wasn't going to get a response. "Fine, then" She muttered, bringing herself to a stand. "Do I really have to stay, if you know when to go back?"

"Stay" He said firmly, so she slipped back into her sitting position.

It was awkward. She thought of asking questions, but there was no guarantee that he'd answer. She could easily get started on a topic of her own, but she didn't want to irritate the man. But just sitting there, saying and doing nothing? She hadn't been this bored in a long while - and she blamed that as her reason for falling asleep.

000

When she woke up, she was in her bed. If she hadn't still been dressed in her jeans and band Tee, she'd have thought she'd dreamt the whole thing. There was dirt on her hands where she'd moved various things in order to get to the hiding place, her feet were equally filthy, and her eyes had dark shadows under them - her body's disagreement with getting up when she should have been asleep.

She was late for work, having slept through her alarm. She had a quick shower despite knowing it'd delay her even further, but found that she couldn't quite remember getting home.

She made it to The Warrens for lunch, apologising to the other staff and then to Yahiko - who was _not _happy that the other volunteer had taken over Konan's art class.

"She had _no _appreciation for my drawing" He yanked out his sketchbook and flopped it in front of her face. "It's better that she could do, the cow"

"Woah - manners!" She whacked the boy on the head with his book and he grimaced. "I'm gone for a morning and you've turned into a common rascal"

"S'what you get when you abandon kids, no?" He added cheekily.

The day passed as normal and the boy didn't mention his book. She'd told him that she was still thinking about it and he dutifully didn't pester her about it, but she couldn't shake the mental image of the Anbu mask on Jiraiya's floor.


	9. Chapter 9

**KONOHA.**

True to her word, Tsunade took a chunk out of her busy schedule to find Sasuke and fill in some of the blanks. Or at least, when she appeared in his room very randomly in the middle of the night, that's what Sasuke assumed.

He later realised that she hadn't slept for a good while, and was running on alcohol and fruit. She'd reduced her sleeping hours in order to fit in everything that she'd promised or resolved to do - and Sasuke could see it eating away at her clarity. But when she came to him with the aim of explaining the things that he wanted to know, he didn't spare any of that a thought.

"Are you awake enough?" She asked, firstly. When he nodded, she then asked, "Are you planning on going back to sleep?"

"...i'm assuming not?" He said, concerned. "Why? Will I not be?"

"Depends" She said vaguely, sitting on the small desk opposite his bed and pulling her legs up. She crossed them at her ankles, her knees slightly apart as her forearms rested across them like a bridge. Her fingers were touching slightly, her nail polish hadn't been redone or removed and it was chipped.

"What do you know of Amegakure?"

"Wet" He said instantly. She gave him a look that told him that wasn't the answer she was looking for. "Amegakure has a strict regime - Hanzo put it in place. His _version _of Anbu are nothing short of-"

"Stop" She flicked up a finger. "I didn't ask for personal opinions and be careful where you say them - especially regarding Ame', got it?" Sasuke nodded briefly. "Continue, then"

"...it's not exactly thriving-"

"Okay" She interrupted. "Obviously you can't do _'no opinions'. _Moving on, then" She rested her hands on her knees, flattening her legs to the table. Sasuke tried not to feel like an under-achieving child. "What about the Aurora Genocides?" She asked after a moment. Sasuke was only young when they'd happened - and they hadn't directly affected Konoha or its people.

"It was an uprising" Tsunade's face showed him he was wrong. "It was Hanzo's retaliation to the uprising" She nodded slowly. "A lot of people died - the criminals-" He paused when she flinched and he was at a loss for what to say. She took a few seconds and then began gnawing at her bottom lip.

"You don't know enough" She said quietly, her brow furrowed with thought. She then threw her head into her fingertips, pressing hard. "Sometimes I hate being in charge" Sasuke almost gaped but he kept his composure and waited for the woman to continue, or do something.

"And I hate explaining shit" She murmured, her hands falling into her lap as she looking Sasuke over. Some decision was internally made, he saw. And then- "Kakashi!" She said, louder than she'd been speaking but not quite a shout. The man appeared at the door and she waved him in. Sasuke felt a little better, even as he remained stood by the door.

"I'm going to warn you, boy" She turned back to Sasuke. "What you hear, you're not going to like. You're eventually going to hate your brother even more than you do and it'll probably ruin your thoughts of your family while we're at it. If that doesn't deter you, then I hope you have an open mind and a righteous sense of justice"

He liked to think he had those things, so he nodded. He already hated his brother - whatever she'd say would only add to the list. And she was wrong about his family - he was sure. She could never ruin his thoughts of them.

"Alright" Her voice lowered as she motioned with her finger - he shifted closer, to the end of his bed and a few feet in front of the desk where she sat. "Basically," She started, like a girl trying to explain why she was out later than intended.

"There was a group who tried to rebel against Hanzo's rule. Hanzo didn't like the opposition and proceeded to eliminate their leader - go for the top, why not? Thought it'd do" She pulled a face that was so childish it caught him off guard but she continued in a heartbeat. _She's not taking this seriously. _

"The group retaliated - seems fair. Killed everyone who had an involvement in trapping and killing their leader. Yay, point made" She flipped her hands and kept talking. "The village were thankful and happy and celebrated like they'd won the bloody war. Only Hanzo wasn't dead - a decoy was killed instead - and it didn't take him long to counter attack. Overnight, anyone who'd affiliated themselves with the rebel gang was massacred and the rebels were found and annihilated. The end" She breathed out and put her head back against the wall. Sasuke knew that wasn't the whole story, but now wasn't the time to push it.

"That's the version everyone got told" She said after a few quiet breaths. "The one that everybody remembers" Something hardened in her eyes, then. Sasuke saw it like a brick wall falling into place. She turned to Kakashi and jumped off the table.

"He can fill you in" She ordered.

"It's not my place to-" Kakashi began.

"I'm making it your place" Tsunade seized his shoulder. "He's your responsibility now - you're his _sensei" _She gave his shoulder a sturdy wobble. "Tell him what he wants to know and come find me when he's got more than fifty questions. Yes? Good" She strode from the room in three strides and Sasuke was left openly staring at the door.

"She's mad" He murmured. "She's completely mad"

"She's tired and overworked" Kakashi corrected. "And the Aurora Genocides aren't her favourite topic"

"Sounds like old fiction, to me" Sasuke started picking at his bed sheets. "Classic revenge gone wrong - mass-murder is nobody's favourite topic" He spat.

Kakashi was sitting on the opposite side of his bed, calm and collected and nothing more than a dark shadow with a silver sheen. But Sasuke at least turned to face him. The man didn't know it, but Sasuke was grateful for the company.

"Hanzo's rule over Amegakure has always been strict and unwavering. Routine and structured - forced" Kakashi began. "A few sought to change that, to turn the village into something new - something peaceful and kind and honest. I don't need to explain how Amegakure's Anbu force are different, do I?" Kakashi gave him a glance.

"They've always been ruthless" Sasuke remembered from his family's stories, coming back from various places and encounters with vivid tales of close-calls with an Ame-mad-man. They were an unwavering force of one-tracked minds that were ordered only by Hanzo himself. And they were trained to kill like assassins, not protect and diffuse conflict like Konoha's own were.

"Then you can understand why such a thought to change that would occur" Sasuke nodded in agreement. He knew that most of Amegakure's population was made up of war refugees - people who'd seen enough of the devastation that conflict and oppression could cause. But that was probably the reason their village's defences were so brilliant.

"They were harmless - and people in the village took to their cause with a firm belief that it would change things. They rarely fought - even though many considered them more than capable of doing so. Their sense of control was a force that even Hanzo couldn't deny. This rebellious group had managed to rally most of the village to their cause without violence or manipulation in a matter of weeks. Months, and they were on negotiating terms. Hanzo couldn't ignore them any longer; he arranged a meeting - to negotiate, allowing the group to put forward their argument for a better future"

"A trap" Sasuke frowned. "Surely they saw that coming?" Kakashi nodded. "And they still went?"

"They expected an ambush and they got one. But it's from that point on that things get a little...vague" Kakashi sat back, his hands and forearms behind him.

"Vague?" Sasuke deadpanned.

"It's like Tsunade said. There's the version that everyone got told - the one that everybody remembers - there's no direct account of what happened during that encounter because everyone who was there, eventually died. What we know is that Hanzo went for the source - the leader - and took him out"

"And then the rebels retaliated?" Sasuke guessed, trying to recall Tsunade's hurried account. Kakashi nodded.

"Hanzo got out of there pretty fast" Was that a glint of a smile, in Kakashi's eyes? "The rebels had been peaceful until then - they weren't criminals. They were simply people wanting a better future" That would explain why Tsunade flinched when Sasuke had called them criminals.

"They attacked with a force that Hanzo hadn't anticipated, so Hanzo himself retreated and put a decoy in his place - nobody knew. As far as the rebel gang were concerned, justice was dealt. Both leaders were dead, along with everybody else who had a part in the planning of the ambush. Some would say _that _is when they became criminals" Kakashi turned to him. "What do you think?" Sasuke hesitated.

"I don't know" He said, barely a whisper. Tsunade's words were echoing in his ears. _I didn't ask for personal opinions and be careful where you say them - especially regarding Ame..._

"Most of the village thought it didn't matter. They didn't care that the rebels who'd fought for peace had used violence to take down their government" Sasuke thought that he wouldn't have minded either. Sometimes, evil was maybe necessary.

"They celebrated" Kakashi was smiling - Sasuke was sure of it - had seen that dimple by his eye often enough to know when the masked man was happy about something.

"They had ribbons and decorations in the streets, everyone was happy, they shared food - enjoyed music and drink, it was a new chapter. Amegakure hasn't had the best of luck, but that day - there was so much hope in everyone's faces that it was hard to think anything otherwise"

"Were you there?" Sasuke asked before he fully understood what he'd said.

There was something about the way the man had been describing the scenes, the way he'd spoken with a fondness - that prompted the question into being. Kakashi watched him for a few seconds before ultimately revealing nothing. Sometimes, Sasuke hated Kakashi's mask.

"That same night, anyone that had been seen to be affiliated with the gang's ideals were massacred in their sleep" He said, void of any emotion. "Age was no matter, nor reason. Hanzo made sure that his Anbu members took at least one life from every household - made a _point _of it - whoever had some sort of symbol in relation to the rebellion. Their doors were painted red with their blood and the corpses of the innocents hung from the streets like bunting. Any hint of an allegiance to the gang, and not to Hanzo, was burnt. They never saw it coming"

Chills ran up Sasuke's spine. _To be that unsuspecting... and they'd been rejoicing not hours before. _

"And the gang?" He prompted. "Were they found?"

"Anbu found the core members of the movement and had them slaughtered. Some say it was the first thing that they did - so they couldn't protect the villagers. Couldn't defend or fight for them"

"But-...surely once Hanzo got rid of the gang - the villagers would just..."

"Fall back under his rule?" Kakashi shook his head. "He feared their beliefs were too strong. That the ideals that the rebel gang were founded on had put ideas into their heads. He had to be sure. Tsunade calls it his _'Example killing'. _He didn't have to kill them. But he did it to make a point - to permanently destroy the idea and stop it from prompting future generations to do the same" Sasuke said nothing - had nothing _to _say.

"As the lights flickered on in the waking houses - nothing could prepare them for what they'd find. Dawn broke the next morning, and the clouds were pink and red - stained with blood. It prompted the rebel's name - do you know it?" Kakashi asked.

"Akatsuki"

"Good" Kakashi confirmed. "But Hanzo never heard it, and nobody ever spoke it. Anything it was written on, was burned. Anybody caught saying the name was immediately struck down. Hanzo's rule resumed and the people of Amegakure were forced to continue on. It's rarely mentioned - a sensitive subject, any way you look at it"

"Especially to Tsunade?" He questioned, finally. Kakashi didn't answer straight away, and even when he did - it was more of a half-nod than any sort of explanation.

"What does any of that have to do with my family?" Sasuke said quietly. Kakashi was still for a few moments.

"Another time, perhaps" He stood up. "I want you to think about that, for a while"

"Why?" Sasuke seethed. "What good will it do?"

"Just consider what I've told you so far" Kakashi said. "Think about their cause, their reasons - it sounds stupid, I know. But you need to understand that - it has to be a feeling in your heart - else anything more that we tell you won't be justifiable in your eyes"

"I don't understand" Sasuke jumped up from the bed, fingers in fists at his side. "Just _tell _me"

"No" Kakashi walked calmly to the door and reached a hand to it. "Get some sleep, and we'll resume later on"

As it was - and as Tsunade had lightly predicted - Sasuke didn't sleep for much of the night. His thoughts were filled with rebellions and misinformation and betrayals and his brother. And what the hell any of it had to do with the Uchiha clan.


	10. Chapter 10

**AMEGAKURE:**

She left her afternoon work at The Forgery with a grin. The men had cheered her up somewhat and Konan was feeling rather happy. It was a shame she'd ruined it.

She'd finished Hikoya's book a while ago and it had her in circles for days. She had been oddly happy to stay in bed and not do anything, only emerging for food and the bathroom. Had she been depressed? Had a _book _managed to depress her? She didn't know, but when Jiraiya hadn't seen her for a good three days - he forced her out of her dark hole and brought her back to the living world with alcohol and light.

She worked off her worries with the kids at The Warrens and used her frustration at the unknown to power her weaponry making. She'd all but forgotten about the little 'mission' that Jiraiya had sent her on, thought nothing of it until she was walking home and found herself walking past the route she'd taken.

When she reached her apartment block, she found herself knocking at Jiraiya's door.

"You're alive, then" He joked, opening the door for her and letting her inside without question.

"Is the guy-we're-not-aloud-to-talk-about alive, too?" The front door slammed shut in an instant, Jiraiya staring her down. "I've given you plenty of time to think of a cover story to satiate my curiosity" She lied. She'd forgotten to ask, and was using it to her advantage by making him think she'd done it on purpose.

"Why can't you just do as you're told and forget about it?"

"Because I'm not a kid any more. And Anbu is serious - it's not a juvenile crime" She folded her arms over her chest defiantly.

"I'd never intentionally put you in harms way, you know that" He fell onto the couch where the unconscious Anbu figure had been. His head fell back, his eyes closing over.

"You can relax" He murmured, waving a finger towards the empty chair opposite. She sat on the arm and drew her legs up. "The Anbu member was from Konoha" Konan felt her stomach flutter. "There were two of them; the Anbu uniform - it was a necessary disguise, that was all. When they made it here, to me, I had to separate them to keep them both alive. I sent one with you - and kept the other here"

"He looked half dead" She whispered, remembering the limp body but unable to recall any severe blood loss. Or wounds, for that matter.

"Exhaustion. Certain things had taken their toll - he'd been back and forth from here to Konoha several times in the space of a few days" She'd never been outside of the village, so she wasn't sure how exhausting even one trip could be.

"You're lying" She guessed.

"No, I'm not" He sighed and she waited for a flicker of a tell - but it didn't come. He really was telling the truth. "The friend that I had you lead away - you can take comfort in knowing that you saved his life" He continued.

"I...what?" She frowned.

"He's alive and safe" Jiraiya's lips turned in a miniscule smile - but only for a second.

"Is he still in Ame'?" She asked with a frown. Jiraiya put up his poker face and she knew he wasn't going to tell her. "Well what about your unconsciously exhausted not-Anbu guy? Is he okay, now?"

"I believe so" _You believe so, _she mouthed. "He's stubborn; as soon as he could breathe and walk and count to ten, he was out the door and heading back home"

"To Konoha" She confirmed, and Jiraiya shrugged.

"Or elsewhere"

"He left his friend?"

"They had no intention of staying together for long; it'd draw too much attention"

"So he used you as a rest stop?" Jiraiya nodded with a small laugh at that.

"I guess so"

"Then...his friend _is _still in Ame?" When he didn't respond, a shudder tickled her spine.

"Leave the matter be" He said. "It has nothing more to do with you" She allowed herself to nod, but she would openly admit that she was curious.

000

The rain was horrendous. It hadn't stopped its attack in days and the clouds were blocking out any fresh air. The humidity was the worst part; Konan has a hooded layer on top to keep her dry - but she was already warm, despite the material's thinness. She wasn't enjoying the morning, and was even more irritated to find that some parts of The Warrens had been flooded. Her greenhouse had suffered; the plants weren't thriving at all.

"Damn" She whined.

"We'll fix it" Hikoya was grinning at her side, his hand holding onto to Teru's. "It's just garden-work, right?"

"No - there's no point" She said sadly. "I'll have to redo it all"

"Then we could turn it into a class project" Teru suggested, and Konan smiled at the idea.

"Maybe" Because secretly, it was her greenhouse and she was just a little more than possessive over it. "Don't you have a class to get to?" The kids left without another word, but Hikoya was back in an instant.

"It'll be alright" He said confidently. "Just you wait" And then he was gone.

Konan had stayed behind, well into the night, to try and fix what she could of her greenhouse. She'd lit the place up with torches and lamps and eventually managed to clear out the ruined ones and rescue some of the others. It wasn't as bad as she'd first thought, but she walked home in the rain smelling of soil and damp and her fingernails hated her for it. She'd forgotten to take the water bottles to The Forgery, and it was closed up as she walked past it in the early hours of the morning. No matter, she'd take them in the morning instead. She was working there for the day anyway.

**KONOHA.**

"For you"

Sasuke had been training in his room again, all day and for most of the evening; Tsunade wouldn't let him use the training rooms until she was certain that her basewas secure - and though she'd checked a dozen times, she didn't seem to want to risk it.

Kakashi had been helping him keep up with his practices, but the room seemws to be getting smaller and smaller and Sasuke was knocking things over repeatedly.

Training had been halted, Kakashi presenting a long gift wrapped and bound in brown paper.

"From you?" Sasuke asked, taking the surprisingly thin and weightless gift and trying to find an opening.

"No" Kakashi said.

"Tsunade" Sasuke presumed.

"No" The boy paused his unwrapping.

"Then...who?"

"If I tell you, I fear you won't accept it"

"Itachi" Sasuke froze, putting the gift down on the desk without opening it any further. "He thinks a gift can make up for what he's done?"

"No" Kakashi walked over to the desk and picked the gift back up. He shoved it towards Sasuke -width-ways so as not to injure the boy - and released it. Sasuke had to catch it and he did. "Open it" He instructed.

Sasuke peeled off the brown paper easily, carefully avoiding the cloth that was wrapped protectively around the sword's blade and instantly noticing the detail.

He'd never been one to marvel at weaponry - they were used to kill, they weren't meant to be beautiful. But he could see now why some people did. The gift was a fine one, a sword with a thin, precise and deadly-sharp blade. The detail was impeccable and the weight of its entirety was barely anything at all.

"Why?" Sasuke breathed, confused as to why his brother would offer him such a thing. "It won't make up for-"

"He's not trying to make up for it, Sasuke" Kakashi interrupted, a hand on the boys shoulder. "Right now, that isn't his first priority. Keeping you safe, is. This is his way of making sure you have something that belongs to you - something for _you _to rely on - should you need it"

"He came to you?" Sasuke frowned, and then remembered that he had told Tsunade to keep Itachi away from him, anyway. _But still... _

"His situation is complicated, Sasuke-"

"I _know _that!" He burst. "How many times have I been told that? By my mother? By my father - by you?! And _still _nobody will explain to me _why" _He seethed.

There was a knock and Sasuke froze. Kakashi pushed him aside, behind the little alcove where a useless bookshelf stood. Weapons at his fingers, Kakashi watched the door open and then slipped his weapons back into his pockets.


	11. Chapter 11

Sasuke ducked a head around the corner, seeing Tsunade shut the door behind herself. Next to her was a shadowed and fully cloaked figure - and his first senses told him it was Itachi. But the build was bigger, broader, but smaller in height.

Sasuke hesitantly stepped out into full view as soon as she turned looked at him directly, her eyes bloodshot and shadowed. Her face was pale and her lips had lost their colour.

"What?" Sasuke breathed. "What happened?" His eyes drifted to the cloaked figure by the door, unmoving.

She looked up and laced her fingers together in that official way that he hated. Her back straightened, trying to present herself in her usual strong character, but something had eaten away at her heart. Sasuke could see it, plain as he could anything else.

"Sit down" She ordered, and Sasuke immediately fell onto the nearest flat surface. Tsunade looked at Kakashi, hinting for him to do the same. Hesitantly, he sat on the end of Sasuke's bed - the nearest thing to him. He too was watching the other figure at her side.

"We've managed to bring back most of the bodies that were found in the Uchiha's tower" She said carefully. "I say most of, because some were either unaccounted for, or...or dismembered" Sasuke blanched. "Sasuke, may I ask? Why were you _not _in that tower?"

"Father sent me away" Kakashi nodded in agreement with his statement.

"Did you know where everybody else of your clan was, at that time?" Thinking back, no. Sasuke didn't. He knew the majority of the important members were having a meeting - that got interrupted because of the attack. But his cousins, the rest of his family...

"No" He whispered. He'd been too angry that the attack had happened to give the details any thought.

"In the bottom of the Uchiha facility, there's a small arena. You've seen it" Sasuke nodded. It was a medium sized stage area, for training or debates or for entertaining. It was a circle shape, their emblem in the centre with rows of tiered seats surrounding the central stage. "You were supposed to be there"

Sasuke remembered, his eyes growing wider.

The younger children of the clan had put together a play, an act that they'd wanted to show their families. They were supposed to have done it weeks before but it had been postponed because of timing reasons. Sasuke was getting ready to leave for that when Itachi had found him, asking him to deliver the note to their father. A chill seized his nerves.

"The children?" He whispered. "Their parents?" Tsunade barely breathed and Sasuke knew they were all dead.

"I also said _we, _that _we've_ managed to bring back most of the bodies that were found in the Uchiha's tower" She looked over her shoulder at the shadowed and cloaked frame still standing behind her - by the doorway. Sasuke thought it was a compromising position on Tsunade's part. "But I believe it was all he, who brought back their bodies. I've simply allotted a space for them to be...received"

"He?" Kakashi was defensive, his eyes clearly showing his distrust. The unknown figure stepped closer, the hood falling down as he did so. Kakashi settled, now watching Sasuke's reaction.

Itachi had said that he hadn't lost all of his family.

Sasuke hadn't believed him.

"Madara" Sasuke wasn't going to cry, but he was weak with relief and light headed with awe. He _hadn't _lost everybody.

"I've arranged the bodies so that they lie with their families. Tsunade has them under her protection and we'll bury them in due course" Madara said as officially as he could, as if he was speaking about another family, not his own. Sasuke had always thought the man to be rather controlled. Tsunade passed Sasuke a sheet of paper, a list of all the members of the Uchiha clan. All of them had lines through their names, and he realised he was looking at a body count.

The only two names that hadn't been accounted for were his parents.

Madara must've seen something switch in his eyes, for he explained without any question from the boy.

"We're still searching for them" The paper was scrunched up and Sasuke heaved in his breaths.

Another knock at the door and Kakashi was up in an instant. He had Sasuke flat against the alcove again, hidden, and Sasuke hadn't the time to wonder where Madara would go.

"Shizune" Tsunade said, sounding confused. "You're bleeding"

"Not mine" The woman said. "I've been with-...arranging the...I went outside for some air. We found this pinned to the main doors" The rustling of paper. Sasuke fought to remain still.

"Shit" Tsunade cursed and...was she pacing? "It could be anyone" She murmured. "You can go - _watch _your back and, Shizune?" There was a pause. "No...never mind. Go"

"...Are you sure?" Shizune asked, probably the only person daring enough to do it to her face.

"No-...wait" Sasuke held his breath. _She's definitely mad. _"Double up security in The Atrium. Take them from my doors if you have to" There was another pause and nobody moved. "Shizune?"

"I don't agree"

"I know you bloody-well don't" Tsunade scoffed. "But do it anyway" Shizune didn't seem to be moving. "I can defend myself perfectly well, you know. They need someone to defend what they have left of their honor here. So go. Don't argue" The door opened and closed and Tsunade heaved a sigh.

"For all parties present, she _does _know you're in here" Tsunade murmured. "But in case anything happens, she can plea ignorance if she's never seen you" Sasuke barely understood. Was that why Tsunade was keeping him hidden? So nobody could confirm or deny that he was there?

"Sasuke" Tsunade snapped. He was at her side in an instant, Madara a few steps the other way. She handed him the piece of paper that Shizune had probably given to her. A photo - two bodies - hanged, with the beginnings of a fire attaching it's flames to their corpses. The victims looked remarkably like the forms of his parents.

"It might not be" Tsunade didn't seem convinced that it was, and that was something. But it was entirely possible that it really was his parents and he was denying it.

"But we'll never _know" _Sasuke held the photo back to her. "What's The Atrium?"

"The heart of this place. The core and its centre. It extends into the underground section - originally one of many escape routes. It's where your family are being kept, for now" Something flickered in his chest.

"So why are you doubling up security on a room full of already dead bodies?" Her face was a picture. And she didn't look at all impressed with him.

"I thought you of all people would have some sort of respect for the dead" She snapped.

"But you offered to remove security from your own guard to-"

"Am I weak, Sasuke?" She flicked his forehead and his heart skipped a beat at the gesture. "Do you think I need a dozen guards to defend me?"

_No, _he thought. They were simply there to slow things down until she pulled whatever magic trick she could to save everybody else.

"I can spare that in order to salvage what I can of your family and keep intact what will be of their memory" She barely paused. "We didn't rescue their bodies to have them all decimated under our protection"

Kakashi started at this. "Is it a risk? Do you think whoever was responsible would go so far as to break into the village, into _here, _just to deface them?" Tsunade stunned Sasuke when she nodded.

"Sasuke, you need to understand. Whoever is responsible wants something that we can no longer give them - It's out of my hands. They will probably retaliate - and stopping your family from having a traditional burial as you wanted would be the perfect way for them to get their point across. Even in death, your family are still guarding their secrets. Desecrating what's left of their bodies is nothing to them - but I fear it'll be everything to you"

"So we bury them as soon as possible" Sasuke turned to Madara for agreement. The man folded his arms in consideration. Sasuke wasn't particularly close to the man who acted like everyone's uncle, but right now, he was all he had. Surely he'd agree.

"They could just dig them up" The man said, low and hollow. The idea disgusted Sasuke, "We should burn them" But that infuriated him.

"That's not our way!" Sasuke shook his head. "They have to be _buried. _Next to their families - in the Uchiha's family plot. On our own grounds!"

"Think, boy" Madara snapped and Sasuke's anger dissipated. "If we cremate them -families together, ashes together if need be - then there's nothing more that the assailants can do. Burials will take time and resources and a large amount of risk. Tsunade can't keep the bodies stored forever" Sasuke risked a glance at the woman, whose face was in guilty agreement. "And as long as they're here - open as they are - they're putting everyone here in danger. Once we cremate them, the risk is decreased. We can bury their ashes traditionally, as per custom, when this has been resolved"

"They _deserve _to have their bodies buried. Not their ashes. Who gets the final say? Do we vote? Do we argue? Do you?" He turned to Tsunade and she shook her head instantly.

"It's a family matter, I can't" She explained. "I'll keep their bodies protected for as long as you need, don't worry about that" She promised.

"My parents..." Sasuke breathed. They'd never be buried in the family plot, next to his grandparents. Would he even get their bodies back? Did their burnt out remains count?

"I'll leave their fate with you, Sasuke" Madara said, oddly soft and careful. "But I urge you to consider the bigger picture, here" The hood on his cloak was thrown up, the man shielded from view.

"I'll be back in a while, Sasuke" Tsunade said. "Kakashi, stay with him"

"Is there anybody else?" Sasuke asked, suddenly. Madara turned half way - already following Tsunade to the door. "Itachi said that not all of our family were gone. Did he mean just you? Or is there...has anybody else..."

"I've heard nothing from Itachi since the tower" Madara said, and something about that made Sasuke want the man to stay.

"Will you tell me what happened there?" He asked.

"Not now. Another time" _Always another time. _Sasuke tried not to behave like a brat, but he was tired of being treated like a child.

Before he could complain, the two were gone from the room. Sasuke barely felt Kakashi pull him into a completely uncharacteristic hug. The man didn't give hugs - and Sasuke hated most contact - but something about the closeness eased his anxiety.

"You will get your answers, Sasuke" He swore. "Just give it time. It _needs _time - and so do you"

000


	12. Chapter 12

**AMEGAKURE**

The Forgery instantly made Konan's tension melt away. There was something about the smoke - as if breathing it in caused all of the worry to dissipate with it - a mix of chemical badness - and when you breathed out, it all vanished into thin air. And the warmth - sweat as she would - there was something about the bad leaking out and the energy being planted. She didn't hate being dirty, now smelling like oil and smoke and sweat. But the four fine blades in front of her - testament to her labour - made her grin just a bit wider.

Yes, there was something akin to relief in any work within The Forgery - and she loved it.

"Pretty" Kuto admired them, his gaze rolling over each one appreciatively as he wandered over to her work corner. "I like the curve at the end of that blade there - right at the tip"

"Sweet, eh?" She agreed. "I might do a few more like that" Kuto nodded.

"But first, Ganji is two down on the etching; can you help with that for a bit?"

She left her station tidy and put her newly forged weapons in her little secure area. Finding Ganji and his large work table of engravings and etching materials, she set herself down with ease. He was a thin man - nothing much like the burly muscles that worked further down - but his fingers were deft with the intricate detailing of engraving blades. He brought over a few small hand daggers and blades, putting a design with each of them.

"Sorry to pull ya' away, Dove" He smiled apologetically.

"It's fine, I don't mind" She reassured him, quickly setting to work on the first blade and easily finding a rhythm. The detailing and focus quickly swept up her attention and before she knew it, she'd completely forgotten about anything else. Someone to her right had a small radio on and that provided a little entertainment, and she was easily caught up in it for the rest of the evening.

"Time to go" Kuto fell into the seat beside her and she looked up. _Already?_

Everywhere was dark except for a few remaining safety lamps - and everyone had already left. She looked confused. "Ganji tried to pry you away three times - you didn't hear?"

Had she been that enthralled with her work? She shook her head, her ears burning with embarrassment.

"Nevermind, then. You done?" He eyed her work.

"Five minutes on this one" She promised, shifting her finished items over to him. "These are done" He took them away and placed them elsewhere while she finished the last of the bunch.

"You're stuck in your own bubble today, Chip" She smiled at his nickname - always something new and odd and strange. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, why?"

He smiled at her the way he used to when he could see her five-year-old self creeping closer to the places she shouldn't be going. But she didn't know why because as far as she was concerned, she was perfectly fine. After a few moments of silence, when she'd finished the detailing and placed it with the others, he hooked his arm around her shoulders and tugged her into his solid barrel of a chest.

"I'll walk ya' home"

They didn't end up going home. He passed the little bar that was The Usual for all the grimy Forgers to go to and drink till late. Ganji and some of the others were still in there, and Konan knew that as soon as Kuto bobbed his head in to say 'hi', that they'd be there for a good while.

Kuto ordered another round of sake and Konan drank along with them. It was an easy feat as they'd been slowly building up her alcohol tolerance since she was ten - allowing her a cup or a sip here and there. Jiraiya had been amazed when she'd managed to keep up with _his _drinking antics.

She never minded that she didn't have girl-friends to go out and drink with - and it never bothered her - the men surrounding her were all the comfort she needed. When the bar closed and the staff gradually kicked them all out, Kuto was still half-sober enough to take her back home. She'd drunk a little more than intended and was probably worse-off than he, and she hadn't a thought for any sort of after effects that tomorrow would bring.

000

"Oi!" She snapped her attention to Hikoya, a marker pen held dangerously close to her face. "I'll do it" The pen came closer and she swiped it away. "What happened to you?"

She'd drunk too much, that was what happened. She'd felt immensely grubby and dirty when she woke up and had - after a few head-swaying moments - decided to throw up whatever was left in her stomach. She felt better soon after and could manage a coffee and some toast - and had managed to make herself only half an hour late for her work at The Warrens. She'd also luckily missed the morning surge of volume, so her brain thanked her despite her tardiness.

So she was soon back at The Warrens with a smile fixed to her face and her lively attitude in check. But apparently she couldn't keep it up for hours on end. The day had taken its toll and she hadn't seen much from Hikoya to boost it. He'd been around, she was sure, trying to keep her attention and focus on him and work things - but her energy just hadn't been there.

"Wench?" The marker pen leaned closer and she swatted her hand at it again.

"Nothing, dork. I have to go" She plunged her feet into her wellies and zipped up her jacket, ready to leave.

"Dude!" Hikoya snapped, standing in her way. "Seriously!" He didn't budge and she wondered what was wrong.

"What?" She murmured, staring him down. He opened his mouth to shoot out some no doubt sarcastic response, but he snapped it shut seconds later. "Thought so" He followed her to the main door, a frown on his face.

"You're such a bitch" He fired, and she stood firmly shocked in front of him.

"Excuse me?" She turned to the boy, his frown deepening in annoyance and the marker clenched tighter in his hand.

"Nothing" He turned and began to walk away, so she grabbed his shoulders and halted him.

"No, it's not nothing. Talk to me"

"No!" He whacked her away and she froze again. "Why do you all have to _lie?" _His cheeks went pink with anger, his hands now fists at his side. "You don't care, none of you do. It's - it's enough!"

She reached for him but he punched her arm aside. She didn't let it deter her - something was clearly wrong with the boy.

"Just go" He hissed, already running up the stairs to the dorm rooms. Konan had never felt so...underprepared for the boys rebelliousness in her life.

000

The next day, Hikoya was already yelling before she'd even got through the front door. His fists were flying in anger, three boys surrounding him, their eyes wide with nervousness. Konan practically attacked the boy, pinning his arms to his side as the tears continued to rain down his cheeks, his breaths ragged with fury as he yelled all the swear words he could manage.

She pried him away, out of the room and up the stairs to the comfort of his own. Their rooms were their own private spaces, and she hated to intrude on that, friends aside. But she didn't want to leave him alone like this. His cold eyes were furious, staring at nothing until she'd closed the door over - and then they locked on her.

"Did you take it?" He choked out, his fingers digging into the mattress beneath him.

"Take what?" But her heart plummeted. She already knew - nothing but the loss of that journal could get him this unmanageable.

"The _book!" _He screamed, jumping up from the bed and flipping his mattress with only a little trouble. Clearly, that was its hiding place. And it wasn't there. "It's gone! I told you not to take it out of here!"

"I haven't got it" She breathed, reaching for the seething boy. So much anger radiated off of him that she wasn't sure she could make it better, not with anything but the recovery of the journal. "When did it go missing? Did you put it-"

"They've _said _that!" He wailed. "_Retrace your steps, _they said. _Maybe you misplaced it, _they said. _It'll be around, _no it won't! It won't!" He cried. "Nobody else knows it's there! It had to be you!" He accused.

"I didn't know it was under your bed" Konan shook her head. "And you _gave _it to me in the morning and I'd give it you back. Yahiko, think. I wasn't the last person to have it - and why would I take it from you?"

"I want it back" He croaked, his voice breaking. "It was my Ma's...i just want it back" He cried, falling to his knees in exhaustion. "Somebody must've taken it - it never leaves my room" He breathed.

"Is this why you were angry yesterday?" She remembered.

"No" He hissed. "I _had _it just yesterday - I read it yesterday before bed and yesterday when I woke up - still there. Somewhere between last night, and getting out of bed this morning, it got taken" He mulled it over. "The doors don't even lock - it could've been anybody" He whispered, his eyes now looking loathingly at the door.

"We'll find it" She said

"I don't think it was the others" He said, referring to the kids. "I think it might've been one of the adults. That's why you have to help. You'll help, won't you? You'll get my book back? Help me find it?"

"Of course" She promised, her heart beat increasing more by the minute. Jiraiya had warned her about the book simply because of the small detail she'd revealed - Yahiko's name. The sheer weight of that alone was making her paranoid.

What would anybody else do with that information if they discovered it? What would they do with Hikoya if they knew the book belonged to the boy? Suddenly, she didn't want to let him out of her sight.

She sat on the floor.

"Alright, Bud" She kicked her foot out at the place where he should sit. "Grab a pen and paper - we're gonna' make a plan"

000


	13. Chapter 13

When she reached her apartment, she jumped up the extra flight to Jiraiyas and knocked.

"Pip?" Jiraiya stepped aside and she shuffled in, smelling that Jiraiya-smoke smell and finding it familiar and comforting. "You're back early" No, she wasn't. She'd pretty much run the rounds through The Forgery and legged her way back to the apartment block.

"I need your help" She admitted, already walking down the small entry way and into the living room at the end. "Something's happened, and-" He hadn't moved from the doorway; usually he'd follow her into the living room - or lead her there, or make some sort of encouraging move. He hadn't, and was standing oddly by the closed front door.

She hadn't yet reached the threshold of his living room, so she paused and frowned questioningly. _What? _She mouthed. He gave her a shrug and pocketed his hands - he looked like he was on his way out. She hesitated.

"Were you on your way out?" She asked.

"Just got back" He admitted. "You're not interrupting" He said knowingly.

"So there's not another body on your couch?" She murmured.

"No" His smile relaxed her a little. "Go on through" She continued into the living room, him walking after her. "What do you need?" He asked. She wanted to talk to him, to sit down with him and drink hot chocolate and be normal. But she knew he was going to yell at her for going against what he'd said to do - or not do.

_You're such a child, _she scolded herself. _Grow up; he's not always going to fix everything for you. _She squared her shoulders. _But he's the only one I can talk to about this._

"I may have ignored something that you told me to do" She started.

"Got you into trouble, did it?" He grinned, lighting up one of his cigarettes knowing that she hated it. The smell she could stand, but the act of seeing him smoke it was something she despised. _A punishment, _she decided, _for going against his word. _

"That book...the journal" The colour ran from his face, the cigarette quickly removed from his lips. "I read all of it" He sighed at her, that disapproving one which meant he'd readily ignore her for a week. "But that's not the problem" She rushed, eager to get to the actual issue at hand.

"Really?" His eyebrows shot up. "I think that's problem number one - what's problem number two?" He prompted.

"It's gone missing"

"Missing?" He echoed.

"Hikoya's frantic over it - it's the last thing he had of his mother. He doesn't think the kids have taken it but none of the staff knew he had it - as far as he knew. We can't find it anywhere"

"Is he sure?" Jiraiya asked. "Kids lose things all the time"

"He's never lost it before; never even misplaced it, it doesn't leave his room. Never except for when he gave it to me - and I gave it right back to him"

"What do you want me to do, Pip?" He asked hardly. "I can't magic it into existence. I can't go back in time and pin point when it went missing"

"I know" She breathed. "I just...you warned me about it. The content of the book...it's dangerous"

"I wouldn't know; I didn't read it" He murmured, reaching for the whiskey bottle on the side. "Unlike _someone" _Her heart fluttered.

"It's dangerous" She repeated. "It's pre-Aurora Genocides and post-effect. It's like...conspiracy and...It could get someone into a lot of trouble" She said numbly, trying not to think of a dead Hikoya. "I'm worried that if it gets traced back to Hikoya, he'll be in danger. I don't know what to do" He was silent for a few moments, his hands cupping the whiskey glass.

"I'll do what I can" Which usually meant investigating well into the night and bribing people. "But don't make any promises to the boy"

"I won't" She said quietly. "He's devastated"

"He's not getting it back" She looked up instantly. "If I get my hands on that book, I'm burning it"

"You can't" She frowned, feeling oddly betrayed. "It's his _mothers" _

"It'll get him killed in this day and age" Jiraiya shook his head and downed the whiskey. "And even if the book is gone, if Anbu find out that it belonged to Hikoya, death is something he'll be praying for"

"He's a kid!" Konan screeched. "He doesn't know what half of it means, he doesn't understand any of it"

"Alright!" He snapped, his anger visible on his face. "I'll go out now, shall I? Find the thing? Will that make you shut up?" She gaped. He'd been tough with her before but this was new. "Stay here if you want" He grabbed his jacket. "I have errands to run anyway" And then he was gone in a furious swish of the door.

"What the hell?" She breathed, her hands shaking in her lap. _There has to be something else, _she thought.

"Stay here if you want" He grabbed his jacket. "I have errands to run anyway" And then he was gone in a furious swish of the door.

"What the hell?" She breathed, her hands shaking in her lap. _There has to be something else, _she thought.

She wanted to leave the safety of his apartment and go looking for the book herself. At least, that's what she wanted to do.

Really, she'd just end up wandering about in the rain, hoping for the book to fall on her head because she hadn't even got a slightest clue as to where to look first. So she stayed in the apartment, hoping Jiraiya would bring her at least a clue.

When a shadow of a figure appeared in front of her, a scream bubbled up from her chest.

A hand covered her mouth and all of her limbs were trapped against the wall in an instant. She struggled. _That's it. Anbu. I'm dead._

"Please calm down" She threw her weight around, thrashing against her attacker - "You're going to hurt yourself-" in her panic she hadn't anticipated the lack of space. Didn't have time to wonder that Anbu wouldn't ask her to _please calm down _or worry that she might hurt herself. Her head would have whacked into the wall - but she found her body was released and a hand had been placed on her forehead to protect it.

The impact was dulled, but she felt the crunch and was sure that the hand would've been grazed. Stunned, she could only stare at her horrific display of defence and judgement.

_Jiraiya would be laughing right now. _

It smelt like smoke - like Jiraiya's smoke, and she realised it was coming from the man's clothes. Like he'd been in the apartment for long enough for the smell to attach itself to him. _Had he been? Had he been here the whole time?_

She tried to move, her heart beat thudding against her rib cage.

"I have no intention of hurting you" Wait...that voice...

_Thank you. _

_I suppose._

_The little blue haired girl from Ame._

_Stay._

Was it him?

Was it the same guy she'd taken to the hiding place? Surely he'd have left?

She whirled and reached for his hood in a flash, yanking it down. He didn't move or protest. His hair was as dark as the soil she'd been working with in the greenhouse. Not jet black, but a very dark brown. And she could smell hair dye. His eyes were a too-bright shade of blue to be natural. She quickly suspected contacts.

"Where's Jiraiya?" She hissed."What did you do with him?"

"Jiraiya's still out - looking" She ceased everything altogether, moving - breathing. He'd known? Had he heard everything about the journal? And what the hell was he doing in the apartment?

"I didn't mean to scare you" He said, bowing his head a little and moving back to give her some space. She didn't feel the instinct to attack, but she could still feel the tension in her body.

He was at least a head taller than she was. He was wearing the same cloak that she had - the one Jiraiya had given her, and then to the stranger she'd hidden. _It's got to be him. _Was it so she'd know to trust him? Because she wasn't so sure.

She noticed how sharp his contours were - his cheekbones and his chin were defined. And there were holes on his face that looked like piercing marks (she'd know, she had a few of her own) - but nothing was in them.

His hand pulled something out of his pocket - a scrappy bit of paper folded appallingly into an origami flower. _Jiraiya, again. _

"What is this, Flower Club?"

"Does it ease your doubts?" She found herself nodding, despite herself. It was the same man. It was the same voice and the same crappy flower. He hadn't left.

"This would've been a lot simpler if you would've just told me your damned name. Do you want me to dub you _'flower boy'?" _He ignored her, turning away and moving over to the spare room. He appeared seconds later with Hikoya's journal in his hands.

"How did you get that?" She asked quietly.

"Guiltily" He answered. "Jiraiya doesn't know I have it - and for now, I'd like to keep it that way"

"He does know you're in his apartment though, right?" The man gave a nod, his eyes shifting to the spare room - most likely _his _room now.

"I need to give it back" She said, her eyes wide and she felt clammy - ill. There was something strange about the man holding the journal, but something so incredibly fitting. It just seemed to click and she felt the_ need_ to justify her want for the book, to defend her reason for taking it from him. "It doesn't belong to me"


End file.
